Dadasaheb Phalke Award - Definition and Overview

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is an annual award given by the Indian government for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. It was instituted in 1969, the birth centenary year of Dadasaheb Phalke, considered the father of Indian cinema.

The award for a particular year is given during the end of the following year along with the National Film Awards.

The list of winners are:

• 1969 - Devika Rani, actress
• 1970 - B.N. Sircar
• 1971 - Prithviraj Kapoor, actor
• 1972 - Pankaj Mullick
• 1973 - Sulochana
• 1974 - V.N. Reddi
• 1975 - Dhiren Ganguly
• 1976 - Kanan Devi, actress
• 1977 - Nitin Bose
• 1978 - R.C. Boral
• 1979 - Sohrab Modi
• 1980 - Jairaj
• 1981 - Naushad, composer
• 1982 - L.V. Prasad
• 1983 - Durga Khote, actress
• 1984 - Satyajit Ray, director
• 1985 - V. Shantaram, director, producer, actor
• 1986 - B. Nagi Reddi
• 1987 - Raj Kapoor, actor, director
• 1988 - Ashok Kumar, actor
• 1989 - Lata Mangeshkar, singer
• 1990 - A. Nageswara Rao, actor
• 1991 - Bhalji Pendharkar
• 1992 - Bhupen Hazarika, composer
• 1993 - Majrooh Sultanpuri, lyricist
• 1994 - Dilip Kumar, actor
• 1995 - Raj Kumar, actor
• 1996 - Sivaji Ganesan, actor
• 1997 - Pradeep, lyricist
• 1998 - B.R. Chopra, director, producer
• 1999 - Hrishikesh Mukherjee, director
• 2000 - Asha Bhosle, singer
• 2001 - Yash Chopra, director, producer
• 2002 - Dev Anand, actor, director, producer
• 2003 - Mrinal Sen, director