The reigning superstar of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan was awarded the 4th National Yash Chopra Memorial Award, instituted by T. Subbarami Reddy in association with Anu & Shashi Ranjan. The Award carries a citation, a gold bracelet & Rs. 10 Lakhs in cash to one recipient each year.

 

The award was presented to King Khan by evergreen actress Rekha, Honourable the Governor of Maharashtra Vidyasagar Rao & Pam Chopra. Other celebrity guests on stage included Shatrughan Sinha, Simi Grewal, Padmini Kolhapure, Venugopal Dhoot, Jaya Prada & others.

 

Among the audience included luminaries like Pinky Reddy, Ramesh Taurani, Anup Jalota, Udit Narayan, Akbar Khan, Alka Yagnik & many others.

 

The Governor Vidyasagar Rao praised the contribution of Hindi cinema & called it the greatest exhibition of Indian culture & values. He said actors like SRK do a great job in promoting Indian art & culture worldwide through their immense popularity & reach across countries.

 

Rekha said SRK puts in a lot of soul in his performances on screen which is why he connects with the audiences the way he does.

 

Simi Grewal said SRK is capable of portraying a hockey coach, lover boy, action hero & even a ghost on screen with so much conviction that he can pretty much play any roles.

 

Pam Chopra said SRK is like family to her & the greatest attribute of him is that once he is your friend, he is your friend for life. That’s a rare & genuine quality about him.

 

SRK thanked the audience & the dignitaries for the honour of bestowing what he felt was the finest award he has ever received. He said he owes his career to Yash Chopra as Yash ji had suggested to him to star in romantic movies. SRK said he didnt have the confidence to do romantic films as he thought he wasnt good looking enough. But, he followed Yash ji's advice & struck gold. SRK also said that Yash ji was like a father figure to him. He recounted how he had refused to go to Kashmir as his late father had insisted that they should visit Kashmir together. He finally went to Kashmir to shoot for 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' with his father figure Yash Chopra & so it is a very emotional moment for him to receive an award instituted in Yash ji's honour.

 

SRK also joked about being tied a 'rakhi' when Rekha put a golden bracelet on his wrist.