Dadasaheb Phalke award is considered as the highest award of Indian Cinema. This award is conferred by Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. Dada Saheb Phalke Award is presented during National Film Awards ceremony which is held every year at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi to honour the best Indian films of the year, best actor, best director and a number of other related awards.

Dada Saheb Phalke award is a lifetime achievement award which presented to the eminent persons related to Indian Film Industry for their valuable and exemplary contribution in promotion and development of India Cinema. This award was established in year 1969 to commemorate the contribution of Dadasaheb Phalke to the contemporary Indian Cinema. It is to note that Dadasaheb Phalke is also called as Father of India Cinema because of his his most valuable contribution to Indian Cine World. It was Dada Saheb Phalke who directed the first Indian Film Raja Harishchandra.

This award comes along with a cash prize of Rs 1 Lakh, a medal of Golden Lotus and a shawl. It is a National Level Award which means all the regional language feature films and not only hindi are considered equally eligible for this award. The selection panel (jury) of this award is a panel consisting of eminent persons from Indian Film Industry.

Some Basic Facts about Dadasaheb Phalke Award

• Presented by –        Directorate of Film Festivals
• Established –          Year 1969
• First Recipient –      Devika Rani (1969)
• Recent Recipient –  Shashi Kapoor (2014)
• Type of Award  –     National Level, Life time Achievement
• Cash –                   Rs 1 Lakh

Some Interesting Facts about Dada Saheb Phalke Awards

1. The real name of Dadasaheb Phalke was Dhundiraj Govind Phalke. He was born on 30 April 1870 at Tryambakeshwar of the then Bombay Presidency, British India. He was eminent Director, Producer and screenwriter of contemporary Indian cinema. His most important films are Mohini Bhasmasur, Satyavan Savitri, Lanka Dahan, Sri Krishna Janma and Kaliya Mardan.
2. Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest official honour in Indian Cinema which is conferred by Government of India.
3. A Postage stamp was released by Government of India in 1971 to honour this this notable film maker.
4. This award was established in year 1969 by Government of India and the first awardee was Devika Rani for the opening year 1969. This award was given during 17th National Film Awards ceremony.
5. The recent most recipient of this award for year 2014 was Shashi Kapoor who got this award at 62nd National Film Awards held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
6. Till now (up to year 2014) there are total 46 recipients of this award so far.
7. Out of all recipients, only Prithviraj Kapoor was the only awardee who got this award posthumously in year 1971. Actor Raj Kapoor recieved the award on his behalf. Later Raj Kapoor himself got this award in year 1987.
8. The first recipient of this award – Devika Rani is also called as first lady of Indian Cinema. The actress is popularly known for her on-screen kiss which was the first on-screen kiss in Indian Cinema in the movie Karma, year 1933.
9. The second recipient of this award Birendranath Sircar is known for Bengali Films. He was the founder of two theaters in Calcutta. He was also the first Bengali film maker to got this award.
10. Prithviraj Kapoor – the 3rd recipient of this Award acted in first sound film Alam Ara of 1931.
11. The first Telugu person to receive this award was Bomireddy Narsimha Reddy in year 1974 at 22nd National Film Awards ceremony. He was also the first film-maker to got Padma Bhushan.
12. Raichand Boral, who was the awardee in year 1978 was the first from music director to win this award. He was the first to launch the system of playback singing in Indian Cinema.
13. The famous Music Director Naushad who won the award in 1981 brought the technology of Sound Mixing to Indian Cinema.
14. Durga Khote got this award in year 1983. She was the first woman to act in talking Marathi language film Ayodhya cha Raja. She was also the first Marathi Film person to got this award.
15. Satyajit Ray awarded in year 1984 for famous film Pather Panchali brought the world attention to Indian Cinema.
16. The first Assamese to win this award was Bhupen Hazarika in year 1992. He is known for his playback singing in many assamese and hindi films.
17. The first Kannada person to win this award was Rajkumar in year 1995. He was actor and playback singer of Kannada films.
18. The first Tamil actor to win Dadasaheb Phalke award is Sivaji Ganesan in year 1996.
19. The first lyricist to win Dadasaheb Phalke Award was Kavi Pradeep. He is popularly known for his patriotic songs like Hum laye hai tufan se kishti nikal ke, Ae mere watan ke logon etc.
20. The first person from Malyalam Cinema to win this award was Adoor Gopalakrishnan in year 2004. He also won National Film Award for Best Director for his first movie Swyamvaram.

Difference between Dadasaheb Phalke Award and Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation AwardThere is one more award which sounds similar to Dadasaheb Phalke Award – which is called Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Awards. This is to note that this award is different from Dadasaheb Phalke Award and not to be confused with. While Dadasaheb Phalke Award is presented by the Government of India, Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Award is presented by an NGO foundation. Recently Shah Rukh Khan and Huma Qureshi came in news for winning this 2015 Foundation awards.