MM Keeravani, Raveena Tandon react to Padma Shri win
What's the story
On Wednesday (January 25), just ahead of the 74th Republic Day, the government of India announced the winners of this year's Padma Awards.
For the year 2023, President Droupadi Murmu has approved the conferment of 106 Padma Awards, including three duo cases.
Among the awardees conferred with this year's prestigious Padma Awards are actor Raveena Tandon and RRR's music composer MM Keeravani.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Padma Awards are considered one of the highest civilian awards of India and recognize the contribution of awardees through their distinguished services.
They are categorized into Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.
Speaking of this year's list, there are six Padma Vibhushan awardees, whereas nine Padma Bhushan, and 91 Padma Shri awardees.
Among this, a total of 19 awardees are women.
Reaction
Tandon's first reaction was disbelief!
Actor Tandon has been conferred with the Padma Shri award for her distinguished services in the field of art.
While interacting with an entertainment portal, she stated, "This has been a year of awards for me, but I was really not expecting this. I don't know how to react."
Tandon was last featured in KGF 2 and made her OTT debut with Aranyak.
Awards to 'RRR'
Keeravani has been collecting laurels for 'Naatu Naatu'
What an incredible start to the year 2023 for the composer of SS Rajamouli's magnum opus RRR!
For his distinguished services in the field of art, Keeravani was honored with the Padma Shri award.
Earlier, the song Naatu Naatu won a Golden Globe for Best Song in Motion Picture, and recently, it bagged a nomination at the 95th Academy awards.
Twitter Post
Ace-composer took to Twitter to express his gratitude
Much honoured by the civilian award from the Govt of India 🙏 Respect for my parents and all of my mentors from Kavitapu Seethanna garu to Kuppala Bulliswamy Naidu garu on this occasion 🙏
— mmkeeravaani (@mmkeeravaani) January 25, 2023
Honor
Tabla Maestro Zakir Hussain was conferred with Padma Vibhushan
Legendary tabla maestro Zakir Hussain was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award.
It is pertinent to note that Hussain had been conferred with the Padma Shri in 1998, and the Padma Bhushan in 2002.
Other notable artists to have been awarded the Padma awards this year include legendary singer Vani Jayaram and singer Suman Kalyanpur, among others.