Amitabh Bachchan felicitated with Asian Film Culture Award

The iconic Big B added one more feather to his 40 year old illustrated career cap. Yesterday at a glittering function at Mumbai suburbs, the Asian Film Foundation felicitated the megastar of Indian cinema with the Asian Film Culture Award.

Dignitaries present at the award function were Kiran Shantaram, Chairman of the Asian Film Foundation and Sudhir Nandgoankar- Director of the festival and Abhishek Bachchan.

Bachchan’s old friend & ace director Ramesh Sippy was also present to grace the occasion.

The award comes after Amitabh Bachchan’s rise as the star of the millennium in a BBC news poll, ahead of such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, Sir Lawrence Olivier and Marlon Brando. He is the 1st Asian actor having a wax model of his likeness displayed at Madame Tussaud’s in London.

With a success record so consistent, over a period of time Amitabh Bachchan has come to symbolize the Indian film industry to viewers in the country abroad. A name that is recognized and admired the world over even where Hindi films are not regularly released. He vociferously opposes the use of the word Bollywood to describe Indian films, but has become the face of the Bollywood globally.

Amitabh has won numerous major awards including 3 National Film Awards and twelve Filmfare Awards. He holds the record for most number of Best Actor nominations at Filmfare Awards thus; the Asian Film Culture Award adds yet another feather to his cap of numerous achievements.

Big B shared, “Cinema is the only medium where we forget our other differences & react collectively, we laugh at the same jokes, shed tears for a sad moment without asking who is sitting next when we buy a ticket.”

Adding further Big B said, “Cinema is a great medium that symbolizes world unity and brings everybody under one roof to react/express on common thoughts, emotions and feelings.”

Asian Film Culture award is given to personalities who promote Indian cinema to the world in their capacity. Previously noted figures in the name of cinema like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, 2009 (India), Park Kwang – su, 2008 (South Korea), Tapan Sinha, 2007, (India), Majid Majidi, 2005 (Iran), Kanneto Shindo, 2004 (Japan), Mrinal Sen, 2003, (India) & Lester Junes Peries, 2002 (Sri Lanka) have received this honour.