Megastar Rajinikanth will be presented with the Dadasaheb Phalke honour, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said. Considered the highest honour for an artiste in Indian cinema, the award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of ₹10,00,000. It was conferred upon Amitabh Bachchan in 2018.

“Happy to announce this year’s Dadasaheb Phalke award to one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema Rajinikanth ji. His contribution as actor, producer, and screenwriter has been iconic,” Javadekar tweeted. On the jury that selected Rajinikanth for the award were singers Asha Bhosle and Shankar Mahadevan, actors Mohanlal and Biswajeet, and filmmaker Subhash Ghai.

Happy to announce #Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2019 to one of the greatest actors in history of Indian cinema Rajnikant ji

His contribution as actor, producer and screenwriter has been iconic

I thank Jury @ashabhosle @SubhashGhai1 @Mohanlal@Shankar_Live #BiswajeetChatterjee pic.twitter.com/b17qv6D6BP

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) April 1, 2021

Rajinikanth began his acting career with the Tamil movie Apoorva Raagangal, released in the year 1975. He went on to work in blockbusters like Baashha, Thalapathi, Annamalai, Muthu, Sivaji: The Boss, Chandramukhi, and Enthiran, among others. Rajinikanth’s last movie was Darbar which released in 2020. It is a Tamil-language action thriller film, directed by A R Murugadoss, and produced by Allirajah Subaskaran under Lyca Productions. Rajinikanth is also the recipient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awards for his excellent work in the cinema world.

The actor will next be seen in an action drama film titled Annaatthe. The film is directed by Siva and produced by Kalanithi Maran under the banner Sun Pictures. The film will also feature Meena, Khushbu, Keerthy Suresh, Nayanthara, Prakash Raj, and Vela Ramamoorthy. Annaatthe is a Tamil language action drama movie.