K BALACHANDER GOT DADA SAHEB AWARD

K Balachander received Dada Saheb Phalke award

Veteran Tamil filmmaker K Balachander, the man behind films like ‘Iru Kodugal’, ‘Apoorva Raagangal’ and ‘Ek Duuje Ke Liye’, received the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in  the 58th National Film Awards Function at New Delhi.

The 81-year-old writer-director-producer has directed nearly 80 films in his career and launched the career of Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth.

According to senior officials in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, President Pratibha Patil would hand over the awards in a star studded ceremony in the Vigyan Bhawan here.

Director Salim Ahmed and his co-producer Ashraf Bedi would get the coveted ‘Swarna Kamal’ and a cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh each for their acclaimed Malayalam movie ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’. Winner of the best feature film and the best actor, the movie traces the desire of a man and his wife to go to Hajj in Mecca.