Rajinikanth receives the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award; remembers K Balachander and thanks his brother, colleagues, fans and Tamil people

On Monday morning, Superstar Rajinikanth was conferred with the esteemed Dadasaheb Phalke Award amid cheers and applause. Many Kollywood celebs received awards at the 67th National Film Awards ceremony, bringing laurels to the film industry, but the veteran star's award was the icing on the cake. It was in April that the announcement on Rajinikanth being bestowed with the award was made. 

On Sunday, he took Twitter to express happiness over the same and said this was possible because of the love and support from people. A few days ago, he also met the media after a brief hiatus at his residence and said that is overjoyed and that the award was unexpected. Rajinikanth went on to add that he misses his mentor and director K Balachander at the moment. 

Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India, handed over the award to the Superstar while Anurag Thakur, Central Minister of Information and Broadcasting, was present at the event. In his speech, Anurag was all praise for Rajinikanth for being an influential actor and a star for five decades. 

He added, "It is not humanely possible to sustain for such a long period and give successful films one after another. You have done a fantastic job. Our heartfelt congratulations." Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, too, came up with a tweet, congratulating Rajinikanth and praising his numerous contributions to the film industry.

In the much-awaited speech, the star said that he is dedicating the award to his guru Balachander and that he remembers the legendary filmmaker with gratitude. He also thanked his elder brother Sathyanarayana Rao for bringing him up by instilling great values in life. He remembered his former colleague Raj Bahadur who worked with him when he was a bus conductor in Karnataka.

"He identified the acting talent in me and asked me to join movies," he said, remembering his co-stars, directors, producers, exhibitors, distributors and the media. "I also thank my fans and Tamil people, without whom I'm nobody. Nandri. Jai Hind," he signed off. He was accompanied by his wife Latha, daughter Aishwarya and actor and son-in-law Dhanush at the ceremony.

Meanwhile, fans of the star can't control their excitement as they are gearing up to watch his upcoming film Annaatthe, which is set for a theatrical release on November 4. Directed by Siva, the makers have released its fourth single on Sunday. It is expected that the trailer of the action drama will be unveiled soon. It has been 26 years since a movie of Rajinikanth has released on the occasion of Deepavali.