‘I want to dedicate this Padma Shri to my mother’

Among the 128 recipients of this year’s Padma awards is singer Sonu Nigam, who has earned the Padma Shri for his distinguished service in the field of Art in India, reports Hindustan times.

The names of 128 recipients of Padma Awards were confirmed by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday. Among the awardees this year are veteran actor Victor Banerjee, and filmmaker Chandraprakash Dwivedi.

Victor Banerjee was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his services to art and cinema. The veteran actor has appeared in Hindi, Bengali and English-language films for close to four decades, winning the National Award for Ghare Baire. He is one of the few Indian actors to have been nominated for the prestigious BAFTA Awards, a nod he earned for his performance in David Lean's ‘A Passage to India’.

Sonu Nigam, one of the recipients of Padma Shri this year, is one of the leading singers of his generation. After making his foray with stage shows in early 1990s, Sonu made it big with playback in Hindi films towards the latter part of the decade. He has sung over 5000 songs in various languages, winning one National Award in the process. Apart from his various Indian awards and accomplishments, Sonu was also ranked the Number 1 artist on the US Billboard Uncharted charts twice in 2013.

Sharing his joy after bagging the honour, Nigam says, “January 25 was a rather special day for me and my family. I’m very thankful to the Government of India for thinking of me as a deserving candidate and bestowing me the Padma Shri. My heartfelt thanks to all those who selected me and suggested my name for this prestigious honour.”

He shares that he has dedicated the award to his late mother: “I would also like to thank my mother, Shobha Nigam, and my father, Agam Kumar Nigam. In fact, I want to dedicate this award to my mother. Had she been here today, she would have cried a lot.”

The Padma Awards are among the highest civilian honours given by the Government of India.