Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar revealed on Thursday that superstar Rajinikanth would receive the renowned 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

“We are delighted to present the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2019 to Rajnikant Ji, one of India’s greatest performers. His work as an actor, director, and screenwriter is legendary “Javadekar sent out a tweet.

We are delighted to present the 2019 #Dadasaheb Phalke Award to Rajnikant Ji, one of India’s greatest performers.

Playback singer Asha Bhosle, director-producer Subhash Ghai, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, music composer, and singer Shankar Mahadevan, and Biswajeet Chatterjee were among the members of this year’s jury for the prestigious award.

On Twitter, BJP national general secretary CT Ravi congratulated the south superstar. He posted on Twitter, “Heartiest Congratulations to Thalaiva @rajinikanth on being awarded the coveted Dada Saheb Phalke award for 2021.”

Rajinikanth, 70, is one of India’s most well-known actors. He made his acting debut in the Tamil film Apoorva Ragangal in 1975 and went on to feature in blockbusters like Billu, Muthu, Baashha, Sivaji, and Enthiran. Rajinikanth has also acted in a variety of Bollywood films, including Hum and Chaalbaaz. His most recent films include Kaala and 2.0 in 2018, Petta in 2019, and Darbar last year.

Rajinikanth is the 12th South Indian to be honored with this distinction. Dr. Rajkumar, Akkineni Nageshwar Rao, and K Balachander have all been honored in the past.

In the past, the iconic actor has won the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awards.