Superstar Rajinikanth recently became the fourth Kollywood celebrity to win the Dadasaheb Phalke award, which is considered to be India’s highest honour in cinema. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Thursday that the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award will be conferred on Rajinikanth. Shortly after the announcement was posted, social media was flooded with praises and wishes posted by celebrities from the film fraternity, politicians and fans.
Director Karthik Subbaraj, who has revealed on various occasions that he is a fan of Rajinikanth, took to Twitter to congratulate the star. The director previously worked with Rajinikanth in the 2019 movie Petta. Sharing an unseen still of Rajini taken at the sets of the film, he wrote, "#DadasahebPhalkeAward Special for #Thalaivar fans..... #Petta Unreleased. Congratulations Thalaivaa." Rajini is seen sporting a stylish look in the unseen still.
#DadasahebPhalkeAward Special for #Thalaivar fans..... #Petta Unreleased
— karthik subbaraj (@karthiksubbaraj) April 2, 2021
Congratulations Thalaivaa pic.twitter.com/zVXqvnw22x
The five-judge panel that selected Rajinikanth for the award comprised Asha Bhosle, Mohanlal, Shankar Mahadevan, Subhash Ghai and Vishwajeet Chatterjee. The award will be presented to the 70-year-old actor on May 3.
Many other celebrities and politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa among others, congratulated Rajini for winning the award. The long list of film personalities who conveyed their wishes to Rajini for the award includes, Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Kamal Haasan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Rajini for his remarkable body of work over the decades. Calling him Thalaiva, the PM wrote, “Popular across generations, a body of work few can boast of, diverse roles and an endearing personality...that’s Shri @rajinikanth Ji for you. It is a matter of immense joy that Thalaiva has been conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Congratulations to him.”
Popular across generations, a body of work few can boast of, diverse roles and an endearing personality...that’s Shri @rajinikanth Ji for you.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 1, 2021
It is a matter of immense joy that Thalaiva has been conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Congratulations to him.
As wishes continued to pour in, Rajini, who is fondly known as Thalaivar, penned a note on Thursday thanking everyone who wished him. Apart from expressing his gratitude to the Union government, PM Modi, other politicians and members of the film fraternity, he also thanked his closest friend Raj Bahadur, who worked as a bus driver when the former was working as a conductor. He also took the opportunity to thank his brother Sathyanarayana Rao Gaekwad for making sacrifices to make Rajini an actor, and his guru filmmaker K Balachander, who gave Rajini the opportunity to make his acting debut in the movie Apoorva Raagangal in 1975.
— Rajinikanth (@rajinikanth) April 1, 2021
Meanwhile, Karthik Subbaraj is currently working on the tentatively titled project Chiyaan 60, starring Vikram, Dhruv Vikram, Simran and Bobby Simha among others.