Doyens conferred lifetime awards

MUMBAI, April 9: Three doyens of the Indian cinema Sivaji Ganesan, Lata Mangeshkar and Dilip Kumar, were conferred lifetime achievement awar...

MUMBAI, April 9: Three doyens of the Indian cinema Sivaji Ganesan, Lata Mangeshkar and Dilip Kumar, were conferred lifetime achievement awards at an impressive function organised by the South Indian Educational Society. The function was held to commemorate 50 years of Indian cinema.

Though the function was to start at 6.30 pm, the Indian Gymkhana Grounds, the venue was filled by 6 pm itself with more than a thousand fans and admirers. The personalities kept their appointment, arriving at the venue on time. Inaugurating the function, P Subramaniam, chief secretary to the state government, noted that all the three stars could boast of careers spanning five decades. quot;They have been the role models of society, shaping the gestures and postures of our countrymen,quot; he remarked.

Mangeshkar felt the award had been misnamed because she had survived so long in the industry only on the strength of the affection of the public. quot;It should be called the Lifetime Support award,quot; she quipped. Dilip Kumar regaled theaudience with his inimitable way of making light the problems that he faced during the early stages of his career. quot;I realised that Indian cinema gained maturity only when I saw US President John F Kennedy deliver his inaugural address with lipstick on his face,quot; he remarked.

quot;Acting is the art of expressing your feelings for something which you know is false. Your brain rejects what you are asked to do, yet you have to do it,quot; he said. But the man of the moment was undoubtedly Chevalier8217; Sivaji Ganesan. Speaking in Tamil with the help of a Hindi interlocutor, he had the audience in splits when he said he had laughed at Dilip Kumar8217;s jokes not because he understood them but because others were laughing away. He claimed that the award would only encourage him to put in more effort into this vocation. quot;Art has been my life, I will die for it,quot; he stated.

The function was arranged as part of various other activities of SIES to commemorate 50 years of Indian independence. It was held in collaboration withthe Bharati Medical and Research Foundation and the Indian Express group of newspapers.