Chiranjeevi, Vyjayanthimala honoured with Padma Vibhushan; late Vijayakanth and Mithun Chakraborty conferred with Padma Bhushan

On Thursday, Chiranjeevi and Vyjayanthimala were conferred with the Padma Vibhushan. Late Vijayakanth, Mithun Chakraborty and Usha Uthup were honoured with the Padma Bhushan.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | Updated: January 26, 2024 12:18 AM IST

3 min read

Vyjayanthimala, Chiranjeevi, late Vijayakanth, Mithun Chakraborty

Vyjayanthimala, Chiranjeevi, late Vijayakanth and Mithun Chakraborty were honoured with Padma awards. (Express archive photos)

The Padma Awards were announced on Thursday. While Chiranjeevi and Vyjayanthimala were conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, late Vijayakanth, Mithun Chakraborty and Usha Uthup were honoured with the Padma Bhushan. While Chiranjeevi was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2006, Vyjayanthimala and Usha Uthup were honoured with the Padma Shri in 1968 and 2011, respectively.

Beginning her cinematic journey from Tamil cinema, Vyjayanthimala swiftly transitioned to Hindi cinema and dominated the 50s and 60s. She, however, never let her acting career overpower the classical dancer in her. She oozed charisma on the screen and captivated the audience with her sparkling eyes which could express multiple emotions. She played a village belle in Ganga Jamuna (1961) with as much finesse as she played a courtesan in Amrapali (1966) or an urban sophisticate in Sangam (1964).

Chiranjeevi, who made his silver screen debut in 1978 with Punadhirallu, has dominated the Telugu screens for nearly five decades. In 2008, the actor entered politics by forming the Praja Rajyam Party, which later merged with Indian National Congress. He also served as the Union Minister of State for Tourism with independent charge from October 27, 2012 till May 26, 2014

ALSO READ | Vyjayanthimala, ‘first female superstar’ of Indian cinema who towered over 3 industries, quit films at height of fame

This is the first Padma honour for Mithun Chakraborty. Vijayakanth will be awarded the Padma Bhushan posthumously. He passed away on December 28, 2023.

Some other Padma awardees from the field of arts include Padma Subrahmanyam, Dattatray Ambadas Mayaloo, Pyarelal Sharma, Khalil Ahamad, Badrappan M, Kaluram Bamaniya, Rezwana Choudhury Bannya, Naseem Bano, Ramlal Bareth, Gita Roy Barman, Parbati Baruah, Som Datt Battu, Takdira Begum, Drona Bhuyan, Ashok Kumar Biswas, Smriti Rekha Chakma, A Velu Ananda Chari, Ghulam Nabi Dar, Mahabir Singh Guddu, Anupama Hoskere, Jankilal, Ratan Kahar, Dasari Kondappa, Jordan Lepcha, Binod Maharana, Binod Maharana, Uma Maheshwari D, Ram Kumar Mallick, Surendra Mohan Mishra, Ali Mohammed & Shri Ghani Mohammed, Kiran Nadar, Narayanan E P, Bhagabat Padhan, Sanatan Rudra Pal, Binod Kumar Pasayat, Silbi Passah, Shanti Devi Paswan & Shri Shivan Paswan, Romalo Ram, Nirmal Rishi, Pran Sabharwal, Gaddam Sammaiah, Machihan Sasa, Omprakash Sharma, Godawari Singh, Seshampatti T Sivalingam, Urmila Srivastava, Nepal Chandra Sutradhar, Gopinath Swain, Laxman Bhatt Tailang, Jagdish Labhshanker Trivedi, Balakrishnan Sadanam Puthiya Veetil and Babu Ram Yadav.

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