Veteran actor Waheeda Rehman was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award on Tuesday. When the actor received a call from someone from the government to inform her about the award, she refused to react. In an interview, Rehman revealed that she didn't believe she was receiving the award until the Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur made an official announcement on social media. "A girl called me from the government office and I told her, 'It hasn't been announced officially. How can I say I am happy? I will be happy, for sure. But it should be officially announced, then only I will say baat sahi hai.' Then, after about half an hour, Mr Thakur announced it, and I said, 'Yes, I really got it'," shared the Guide actor while speaking to India Today. While announcing Waheeda Rehman as the winner of the prestigious award, Anurag Thakur wrote on X, "At a time when the historic Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam has been passed by Parliament, her (Rehman) being awarded with this lifetime achievement award is a fitting tribute to one of the leading ladies of Indian cinema…” Waheeda Rehman, who has had an illustrious career spanning over six decades, told ANI, that during her active years, she tried to be a part of films which had some substantial role for the women. She said, "In the films I did, I often kept in mind that there should be progressive ideas, women should be allowed to do whatever they want to do because, for centuries, women were not allowed to move forward, study and write. So they were suppressed when they also had talent." She added, "I think women have a lot of strength, they have a lot of brains, they can be very successful if they work wholeheartedly." For the actor, her character of Rosie in Guide (1965) had "too much depth", and even then, filmmakers wrote strong women characters. Waheeda Rehman says filmmakers wrote 'amazing' characters for women 60 years ago She told News18, "Although Dev saab was the leading man and played the titular character, Rosie’s character had so much depth. She always spoke her mind and she fulfilled her desire to become a dancer. So, even 60 years back we had some amazing characters written for women and that was all thanks to filmmakers like Vijay Anand who had always portrayed strong females in their films.” Rehman is also a recipient of the Padma Shri (1973) and Padma Bhushan (2011). She started her career with CID (1956) when she was just 17. Her first co-star was legendary actor, Dev Anand. Being honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award on her first co-star's centenary birth anniversary was 'special' for Rehman. For her, "it is a gift" she received on the late actor's birthday. "It makes me very grateful that the recognition has come to me on the centenary birthday of my favourite co-star late Dev Saab (Dev Anand). There couldn’t have been a better day to announce it," she told News18. Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman also starred together in films like Kala Bazar, Prem Pujari, Solva Saal, and Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja. Waheeda Rehman has appeared in over 90 films during her remarkable career and in her former years, she appeared in some supporting characters in movies such as Chandni (1989) and Lamhe (1991), Rang De Basanti (2006) and Delhi 6 (2009).
