The central government announced the Padma Awards on the occasion of Republic Day. Many celebrities from the film industry have been selected for the Padma awards. Megastar Chiranjeevi was awarded the Padma Vibhushan award from the Telugu film industry. After Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Chiranjeevi will become the Padma Vibhushan actor in Telugu.Chiranjeevi expressed his happiness saying, ‘It is a great thing to receive Padma Vibhushan, the second biggest award in the country.. It is because of his fans and the cine world that he got this.. This credit belongs to them’. Chiranjeevi was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2006.
Actress Vyjayanthimala Bali from Tamil Nadu was also selected for the Padma Vibhushan award. Born in 1933, Vyjayanthimala made her debut in 1949 with the Tamil film Valakai. The same movie was released in Telugu as ‘Jeevitam’. After that she went to Hindi film industry and emerged as a leading actress. In a way, it can be said that Vaijayanthimala is the first generation actress who went from South to Hindi cinema and became a star heroine.
Recently deceased Tamil actor Vijayakanth was announced with Padma Bhushan award. Vijayakanth, who entertained as a leading actor in the Tamil film industry for decades, also greeted the Telugu audience with translated movies. Vijayakanth, who is known to everyone as a captain, also made his mark as a politician. Vijayakanth passed away due to illness last December.
Mithun Chakraborty is another Padma Bhushan awardee. Mithun Chakraborty, a disco dancer who took the whole country by storm with his unique dances, made his mark as a leading man in Bengali and Hindi films. Mithun mesmerized the Telugu audience with his performance in Venkatesh and Pawan Kalyan’s ‘Gopala Gopala’.
