Dada Saheb Phalke Award, instituted by the Government of India in 1969, is awarded to outstanding actors, playback singer, music composer or directors associated with the world of cinema for their lifetime achievement in their respective fields. The award is named after Dada Saheb Phalke. (1870-194), the first Indian to make silent movies, hailed as the father of Indian cinema.
His silent film Raja Harishchandra was released on May 13, 1913. The first recipient of Dada Saheb Phalke Award was the veteran actress Devika Rani and the latest awardee was the director of Malayalam cinema, Adoor Gopalkrishnan. Some of the other prominent awardees have been Raj Kapoor, Dalip Kumar, Sivaji ganesan, Satyajit Ray, V. Shanta Ram, Nagi Reddy and Lata Mangeshkar, to mention a few.