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Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Amitabh Bachchan

New Delhi: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, one of the most influential stars of his generation, was on Tuesday named the Dadasaheb Phalke award recipient for the year 2018 for his contribution to the Indian film industry.

The award comes in a year when 76-year-old Bachchan completes 50 years as an actor.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar confirmed the news in a Twitter post.

The legend Amitabh Bachchan who entertained and inspired for 2 generations has been selected unanimously for DadaSahabPhalke award. The entire country and international community is happy. My heartiest Congratulations to him.

The award, named after the father of Indian cinema, Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, was instituted in 1969, the year Bachchan made his debut in Hindi film industry.

Considered the highest honour for an artiste in Indian cinema, the award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of Rs 10,00,000.

In a career spanning five decades, Bachchan has stayed at the top, surprising fans with memorable performances film after film.

Such is his popularity that Bachchan continues to be on the wishlist of the young generation of directors, many of whom grew up on a staple diet of his films of the '70s and '80s.

Bachchan was born to renowned Hindi poet Harisvanshrai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan in 1942.

He started his cinema journey as a voice-over artiste for Mrinal Sen's film Bhuvan Shome and made his debut as an actor with Saat Hindustani though the film was not a box office success.

It took Bachchan a dozen flops to finally break into the film industry as a lead hero with Prakash Mehra's action film Zanjeer.

Bachchan became the voice of a generation with the Angry Young Man persona, created by scriptwriters Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, perfectly embodying the frustrations and disappoinments of his generation in films such as Deewar and Sholay.