February 16th, 2009
Renowned actors of yesteryear Hindi film industry Sharmila Tagore and Shashi Kapoor will be conferred with the prestigious FICCI-Frames Living Legend award this year. They would be presented with the award on February 19, the concluding day of the FICCI-Frames annual convention on Indian entertainment and media industry here, organisers today announced.
Ms Tagore, who is currently the chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), has won several National Film Awards for her critically acclaimed performances.
Mother of bollywood star Saif Ali Khan and actress Soha Ali Khan, Ms Tagore began her career as an actress in 1959 with Satyajit Ray's 'Apur Sansar' (The World of Apu) but established herself in the Hindi film industry with Shakti Samanta's 'Kashmir Ki Kali' in 1964. Her last film, released in 2006, was Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 'Eklavya: The Royal Guard', in which she played mother to her own actor son Saif.
Meanwhile Shashi Kapoor, a legendary actor and producer of the famous Kapoor family, is remembered for many hits like 'Deewar', 'Kabhi Kabhie', 'Trishul' (1978) and 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram'.
The romantic hero of the 60's started his career as a child artiste in several mythological movies in early 1940s. His best known performances were in 'Aag' (1948) and 'Awaara' (1951), in which he played the younger version of the characters played by his elder brother Raj Kapoor. He made his debut as a leading man in 1961 with Yash Chopra's 'Dharmputra' and went on to appear in over 100 films. He also starred in many British and American films notably the Merchant Ivory productions' 'Shakespeare Wallah', Bombay Talkie' and 'Heat and Dust', in which he co-starred with his wife Jennifer Kendal. His last film appearances were in 'Jinnah' (1998) and a Merchant-Ivory production titled 'Side Streets' (1998).
Both Sharmila Tagore and Shashi Kapoor have also acted together in in many films, including the smashing-hit 'Aa Gale Lag Jaa'.
Eminent personalities from the field of entertainment are honoured with the Living Legend Award for their outstanding contribution to the field of entertainment, every year at the FICCI annual global Convention, Frames.
Earlier awardees are Lata Mangeshkar, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Asha Bhosle, Amitabh Bachchan, Waheeda Rehman, Shammi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Dharmendra and Sridevi.
