Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh get ‘Indian of the Year’ awards

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan along with actors Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan received the NDTV Indian of the Year awards for their contribution to the field of cinema.

The awards were announced here on Tuesday night. However, superstar Aamir Khan had to give a miss to the award ceremony owing to his ill-health. The actor, also known as ‘Bollywood’s Perfectionist’, was to receive the Real Tigers award along with conservationists Belinda Wright and Valmik Thapar.

Amitabh, who has been a part of the entertainment industry for over four decades, was given a lifetime achievement award for defining and redefining stardom. He was given the award by industrialist Anand Mahindra, and actor Ranveer Singh was also on the stage.

From being the ‘Angry Young Man’ of cinema to becoming the ‘Shahenshah’ of the silver screen, Amitabh has entertained movie-buffs with his performances in films like “Don”, “Zanjeer”, “Black”, “Sholay”, “Paa”, “Shamitabh” and “Piku”. The 73-year-old cine icon was glad over being granted the accolade.

“I feel grateful that at this age I get to do different roles. I am just doing my job,” Amitabh said while accepting the award.

Amitabh’s family — wife Jaya, son Abhishek, daughter Shweta and and son-in-law Nikhil Nanda — also turned up at the event to cheer for him.

Jaya, who has starred with Amitabh in quite a few films like “Sholay” and “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham”, asserted that she always knew that he was a talent house. She said: “I don’t know whether I thought that he would change or redefine films, but definitely I knew he had the talent to be one of the best actors of the country”.

Sharing the stage with Big B was a fan boy moment for Ranveer.

He shared: “Thank you for inviting me on stage to speak about the man who inspired me to be an actor. I really have a lot to say. I told him ‘I am the seed you had sown several years ago’. I’m a Hindi film fan first, then an actor. And if you are a Hindi film fan, you are an Amitabh Bachchan fan.”

Deepika, who starred in three films “Piku”, “Tamasha” and “Bajirao Mastani” in 2015, was honoured with the Actor of the Year award by Amitabh and Pawan Munjal, chairman of Hero MotoCorp. She added bling to the event with her shimmery sari with a red roses on a bun.

Big B and Irrfan showered words of appreciation for her, with the former saying that “I always keep on complimenting her and hope she continues to do so in future well’; and the latter reminiscing about the time spent on the sets of ‘Piku’.”

Irrfan said: “It (‘Piku’) was the film which I never wanted to end. Deepika’s character when you read the script was a very cranky character. But she turned that crankiness into such a beautiful and endearing character.”

Ranveer, who won multiple awards for the year 2015 for his role as a rich guy finding an aim in life in “Dil Dhadakne Do” and a mighty warrior in grand “Bajirao Mastani”, was chosen as the Entertainer of the Year. And he showed why he is the befitting contender of the trophy as he danced and joked on the stage.

The actor added a quirky dimension to his dapper look with a colourful polka dot socks, which he flaunted with much elan.

The biggest highlight of the evening was when Ranveer shook a leg on stage with former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah, who presented the award to the “Lootera” actor.

Irrfan, who starred in films like “Piku”, “Talvar”, “Jazbaa” and Hollywood blockbuster “Jurassic World” last year, was declared as the Actor Of The Year for starring in both commercial as well as content driven films.

Inputs by IANS