Actor Deepika Padukone bags Dadasaheb Phalke Awards for ‘Best Actor’ in the prestigious award ceremony held on Saturday. The star-studded night that was held after a long span of time due to the Covid-19 pandemic honoured the talented artists for their outstanding contribution to the Indian cinema.

Deepika Padukone bagged the ‘Best Actor’ award for her acclaimed performance in her notable movie ‘Chhapaak.

The official Instagram account of Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival announced the news. For the ‘Padmaavat’ star, they wrote, “Celebrating the dedication you’ve shown on the way to this achievement. Congratulations to @deepikapadukone for winning the “Best Actress” award at Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2021. Team DPIFF wishes you the best for your future endeavors!!”

@dpiff_official shared a video on Instagram: “Celebrating the dedication you’ve shown on the way to this achievement. Congratulations to @deepikapadukone for winning the “Best Actress”…” • Feb 20, 2021 at 4:49pm UTC

Deepika who played the protagonist in the film also marked her debut as a producer with this film.

Helmed by director Meghna Gulzar, the film is based on the real-life acid attack survivor Laxmi, who at the age of 15, was attacked allegedly by a spurned lover in 2005. Laxmi had to undergo several surgeries. Later, she took up the job of helping acid attack survivors and promoted campaigns to stop such attacks. Laxmi is a well-known advocate of stricter punishments in acid attack cases.

Meanwhile, on the work front, she has committed to star alongside Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ananya Panday in Shakun Batra’s as-yet-untitled romantic drama.

Padukone will also produce and star in a remake of the American comedy film The Intern and will team with Prabhas in the Pan-India film, helmed by Nag Ashwin. In November 2020, she began shooting alongside Shah Rukh Khan for YRF’s next project titled Pathan and is also set to star opposite Hrithik Roshan in Siddharth Anand’s Fighter, scheduled for release in September 2022.

Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke was a renowned Indian filmmaker and screenwriter. Phalke was born on this day in 1870 in a Marathi family from Nashik, Maharashtra. He passed out from J. J. School of Art, Mumbai in 1890, Phalke went to the Kala Bhavan, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Vadodara, where he studied sculpture, engineering, drawing, painting, and photography.

Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival is a unique initiative intended to honour the entertainment industry and to appreciate the creativity, in the presence of Celebrities, Dignitaries, Industrialists, Delegates and Media Personnel. The DPIFF platform will set a realistic benchmark to motivate, inspire & nurture the talent of South Indian Cinema on National Level. The grandson of Dadasaheb Phalke ji Shri C.S. Pusalkar Ji is the Jury President of the organisation.

The team was invited in a function arranged by Maharashtra Film, Stage and Cultural Development Corporation Limited, Film city. It was help in the presence of Legendary Director Subhash Ghai, Managing Director of MFSCDCL Smt. Manisha Varma, I.A.S. l, CEO of DPIFF Mr. Abhishek Mishra, Grandson of Dadasaheb Phalke Shri C.S. Pusalkar, MD of DPIFF Shri Anil Mishra, From DPIFF Team Mr. Yash Jain, Mr. Vinay Punamiya, Ms. Neha Singh, Ms. Shweta Mishra and several other artists from the industry.

Team DPIFF also conducted the tree plantation drive and planted several trees in the Film City.  This drive was conducted as part of the CSR activity – Go Green Initiative brought about by the team of Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards in collaboration with MFSCDCL.

Each year, the team of DPIFF comes up with an activity through which they spread awareness about environmental consciousness and do their bit to give back to nature. The Tree Plantation Drive was one amongst many activities that come under the initiative. The initiative never fails to leave its mark and has received constant acknowledgement and appreciation from Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi Ji and Home Minister of India Shri Amit Shah Ji.