Rekha gets name of achievement award changed to her preference

Spicezee Bureau

Pune, May 26: Bollywood’s evergreen seductress Rekha sort of shook up the entertainment industry with her objection to accepting Raj Kapoor Jeevan Gaurav award, a lifetime achievemet award given for her contribution to Hindi cinema. Her claim was that since her career has not yet ended, the ‘lifetime’ thing is incongruous. Having pulled this stunt, she even got away with her say, for the presenters changed the name of the award to suit her preference.The Maharashtra cultural affairs minister Harshwardhan Patil who spoke to media persons here last night, said Rekha felt that she could not accept a Lifetime award because she was still pursuing an active film career, which has not ended. To honour her sentiments, the government has now amended the title of the award to "Raj Kapoor Pratiba Gaurav", putting an accent on the creative aspect of the artiste. Now, the renamed award will be presented to the actress on the occasion of 46th Maharashtra state film award distribution ceremony slated for May 30 in the city. The other awardees include Bollywood star Aamir Khan who too will be present at the felicitation. Earlier, a statement by the publicist of the 55-year-old actress, who conveyed her displeasure to the government, clarified that being honoured with Lifetime Award did not mean that Rekha`s acting career is over. "She continues to work in films and do challenging roles," it said. The award comprises Rs two lakh, citation and a memento. The cultural affairs department has also decided to felicitate recipients of the Padma awards this year who belong to the film industry including singers Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu and Shamshad Begum apart from noted music director Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar. There are also plans to felicitate the stars of the Oscar-winning film `Slumdog Millionaire` and double Oscar winner music director A R Rahman has also been invited, an official of the cultural department said.