Amitabh Bachchan, Prince Karim Aga Khan get Padma Vibhushan

Among the 50 leading lights, who were bestowed with the three categories of Padma awards, legal luminary K K Venugopal, Dharmadhikari of Karnataka's Shri Manjunatha Swamy temple Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade, nuclear scientist M Ramaswamy Srinivasan were given Padma Vibhushan.

Cheered by actor son Abhishek, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai, wife Jaya and daughter Shweta Nanda, her son Agastye and daughter Navya Naveli, 72-year-old Amitabh, dressed in a black 'bandhgala' suit, folded his hands in respect as he received the honour from the President to thunderous applause.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior Ministers, BJP patriarch L K Advani, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were among those who were present. Due to illness, 92-year-old veteran actor Dilip Kumar, who was also one of the Padma Vibhushan awardees, could not attend the civil investiture ceremony held at the majestic Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

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Big B, Rajini to clash at box office

This time around, Big B and the South sensation will again clash at the box office on April 11. It has emerged that Bachchan's 'Bhootnath Returns' and Rajini's 'Kochadaiiyaan' will hit the marquee on the same date.

Interestingly, both the icons have worked together in films such as 'Andha Kanoon' (1983), 'Geraftaar' (1985), 'Dosti Dushmani' (1986) and 'Hum' (1991). While Rajnikant did a special appearance in 'RA.One' (2011), Big B did a voiceover for the film.

Says an industry watcher, "With the release dates of their films now confirmed, it will be interesting to see the legends take on each other at the box office. The two stars have fans across the globe and their films' collections will be followed closely."

'Bhootnath Returns' is a sequel to Big B's 2008 horror comedy 'Bhootnath', while 'Kochadaiiyaan' is a period drama that has used state-of-the-art technology with Rajinikanth reprising his larger-than-life persona. In fact, the latter, which also stars Deepika Padukone, will be released in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Bengali and Punjabi across 6,000 screens, in addition to an international version in English.

Adds the industry watcher, "It is well-known that when Rajinikanth's film releases, it is festival time for his fans. The shows begin as early as 5 am especially in South India and often people burst crackers, beat drums and throw flowers at the screen before the show. The movie's reel is also worshipped at temples. So this clash is surely an interesting development."

Courtesy: Mid-Day

Source: Entertainment News & Movie Review