On Thursday, on the Republic Day eve, the government of India announced the Padma Awards. It is India’s second-highest civilian honour after Bharat Ratna. People in arts, education, industry, literature, science, acting, medicine, social service and public affairs are conferred with the award for their contribution in these respective fields. From the entertainment field, Vyjayantimala, Chiranjeevi, Mithun Chakraborty, singer Usha Uthup and composer Pyarelal Sharma are among the 132 recipients of the Padma Awards.
Megastar Chiranjeevi was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan Award. Ms Padma Subrahmanyam and Shri Bindeshwar Pathak were also honoured with the prestigious award. Director Ram Gopal Varma expressed his happiness for Chiranjeevi but he said that he never heard of the other two personalities and was not 'thrilled' to put them in the ''same position'' as Chiranjeevi.
Ram Gopal Varma wrote on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, “I never heard of Shri Padma Subrahmanyam or Shri Bindeshwar Pathak and so to put them in the same position as MEGA STAR, I am not at all thrilled with the award, but if @chirutweets gaaru is happy I will also pretend to be happy''.
For the unversed, Padma Subrahmanyam, who is a renowned Indian classical Bharatanatyam dancer received the award in the field of art while Shri Bindeshwar Pathak who was a sociologist and social entrepreneur received the award (posthumous) for his contribution to social work. He passed away in August last year.
RGV's comment did not go well with a section of netizens and they slammed him for his ''limited knowledge''.
One user wrote, ''Because you knowledge is limited to few states or region and few fields only'' while another commented, ''You should more read about Bindeshwar pathak''. One user wrote, ''Dear RGV please don’t weep@great people who achieved something ,beyond the scope of your imagination even,that would de characterise your personality. Please do accept my guidelines and follow up from now onwards''. ''You may not need to know who got the award sir . Just understand the value of the award'', wrote one. Another user said, ''Padma Subramanian has done more to Indian Classical Dance Bharatanatyam which obviously you wouldn't know and as for as Pathak ji he started Sulabh toilets to help the masses''.
On Padma Vibhushan's win, Chiranjeevi expressed his joy with a heartwarming speech. He said he was “speechless” after he was informed about the honour and said that he was “overwhelmed, humbled and grateful” to receive it.
