Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi was honoured with the Indian Film Personality of the Year Award at the 53rd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) on Sunday. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur made the announcement at the opening ceremony of the film festival.
The actor was not present at the event to receive the award himself.
Anurag Thakur congratulated Chiranjeevi on Twitter. ‘Sh Chiranjeevi Ji has had an illustrious career spanning almost four decades, w/ over 150 films as an actor, dancer & producer. He is immensely popular in Telugu Cinema w/ incredible performances touching hearts! Congratulations @KChiruTweets,’ he tweeted.
Veteran writer K Vijayendra Prasad, actors Paresh Rawal, Ajay Devgn, Suneil Shetty, and Manoj Bajpayee were also felicitated with special honours at the opening ceremony of IFFI 2022.
While being honoured, Ajay said, ‘I love making films. Be it acting or producing or directing, I love each and every aspect of films. Thank you all for all the love.’
The opening ceremony was hosted by actor Aparshakti Khurana.
The 53rd IFFI also features retrospectives on Dadasaheb Phalke awardee Asha Parekh and Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura.
This is the first full-fledged physical edition of the festival following the COVID-19 pandemic. 280 films from 79 countries will be screened at the IFFI which runs till November 28.
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