As the run-up to this year?s Karbonn Mobiles 17th Annual Star Screen Awards has begun, the jury is again looking back into recent history of Indian cinema to single out that one individual whose contributions should not go unnoticed.
The Lifetime Achievement Award at the Screen Awards enjoys the reputation of being one of the highest honours in the country for its unique selection. At the 16th Annual Star Screen Awards, held in 2010, when Javed Akhtar received the award, he admitted that he was overwhelmed by the fact that Screen jury looks beyond film stars for this category of awards.
Upon receiving the award at the hands of Yash Chopra and Amitabh Bachchan, with both of whom he has delivered successful films such as Deewar, Akhtar added, ?A circle has been completed today?, he said.
Akhtar could not have put it better. The Star Screen awards ? though an annual affair designed to honour those personalities who excelled in various aspects of filmmaking that particular year ? makes an effort to celebrate the veteran figures for their contribution to Indian cinema. The Lifetime Achievement Award was introduced in the inception year of the Awards and has, over the years, honoured several members of the film fraternity for their body of work.
In 1995, the first year of the awards, this honour went to veteran actor Ashok Kumar.
The versatile actor who had an active career spanning nearly five decades, was without doubt the best candidate for this honour. At 86, the actor was present at the maiden ceremony to accept the award.
The Screen awards has since managed to introduce an element of surprise every year while conferring the honour. From awarding two prominent personalities together ? Lata Mangeshkar and Dev Anand in 1997 and Mala Sinha and Biswajeet in 2007 ? to bringing under spotlight rather unlikely names such as character actor Pran and singer-actress Suraiya, Screen?s Lifetime Achievement Award remains highly respected and coveted.
In 2006, however, a huge exception was made and the category was swapped for another, Unsung Hero Award, which went to renowned veteran action director Veeru Devgan. This once again proved that Screen Awards can look beyond the obvious and step out of convention to acknowledge talent over popular perception.