Manoj Kumar, the 1960s and ’70s sensation and now a veteran actor, will be honoured with last year’s Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India’s highest award in the world of cinema in the country. Kumar was nominated for the same in 2012 but the award went to Soumitra Chatterjee that year. Finally Manoj Kumar is being conferred with the trophy in 2016, when the septuagenarian turns 80 in July.
While congratulations from Bollywood are in order, Manoj Kumar much deserves this honour. Kumar took to the world by storm with films like ‘Hariyali Aur Rasta’, ‘Banarasi Thug’ and ‘Himalaya Ki God Mein’ during his earlier years in Bollywood. Later the actor indulged mainly in patriotic films and churned out many hit songs like ‘Mere Desh Ki Dharti’, ‘Bharat Ka Rehnewala Hun’ and others under those flicks. His character was named Bharat (India) in blockbuster films like ‘Upkaar’, ‘Purab Aur Paschim’, ‘Roti Kapda Aur Makaan’ and ‘Kranti’ among others, which gave him the title of Bharat Kumar. The nickname stays with him even today.
On a day like this, when the good news has finally come knocking on the door of Manoj Kumar, we at Celebs & Cinema too wish the actor many congratulations!
