"I missed my dad. I know he would have been very proud."
Quantico actress and Bollywood babe, Priyanka Chopra, has been awarded a Padma Shri Award.
Announced on Republic Day every year, it is India’s fourth highest civilian honour.
As a top Bollywood actress and rising star in Hollywood, PeeCee is celebrated for her distinguished services in entertainment.
Having recently won People’s Choice Award, PeeCee is certainly climbing up the ladder to reach for global success.
Receiving her Padma Shri, Priyanka first tells Twitter of her joy and shock:
My congratulations to the recipients of the Padma Awards this year. I am privileged to be a part of such an illustrious list of achievers.
— PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) January 25, 2016
Speaking to PTI over the phone from Montreal where she is shooting US drama Quantico, Priyanka exclaims: “I was not expecting it at all.
“I just read about it in the news a couple of days ago… then my mom got to know about it and she told me. I am so glad she is here with me!
“From Dil Dhadakne Do to Bajirao Mastani to getting People’s Choice award for Quantico and now Padma Shri…I can’t explain in words what emotions I am going through. I think I am living my dream.”
The lead actress of the upcoming Jai Gangaajal (2016) is especially thrilled to receive this award on the back of her parents’ careers in the military.
She goes on to tell IANS that: “I think at any stage in your career, getting a Padma Shri is extremely exciting.
“It’s one of the highest civilian honours of our country.
“And to be recognised by the government for the work that you have done and your contribution to the nation is a wonderful feeling.”
PeeCee later accepted her award from President Pranab Mukherjee at a formal function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on April 12, 2016.
Ladies and gentlemen… Presenting #PadmaShriPriyankaChopra! Super proud of all your achievements @priyankachopra pic.twitter.com/mU6kby4xhi
— Team Priyanka Chopra (@TeamPriyanka) April 12, 2016
She said in a statement: “I can’t explain what I’m feeling right now. It’s very surreal. It’s such a huge honour and I’m so happy to be a part of the ceremony today.
“Being at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in the presence of the honourable President, Prime Minister and all the dignitaries, sitting amongst the other accomplished awardees and mostly having my family present there, made today complete.
“I missed my dad. I know he would have been very proud.”
Other familiar names in Bollywood, such as actor Ajay Devgn, director SS Rajamouli, and the late British-Indian actor Saeed Jaffrey have been awarded the prestigious honour as well.
The Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan, second and third highest civilian honour respectively, have also been announced.
Tamil actor, Rajinikanth, classical singer Girija Devi, tennis player Sania Mirza and badminton player Saina Nehwal are among the outstanding recipients.
Here is the full list of those awarded with the Padma Shri in 2016:
- Ajay Devgn
- Bhikhudan Gadhvi
- Shri Sribhas Chandra Supakar
- Prathibha Prahlad
- Priyanka Chopra
- Tulsidas Borkar
- Soma Ghosh
- Nila Madhab Panda
- S.S. Rajamouli
- Madhur Bhandarkar
- M. Venkatesh Kumar
- Barjinder Singh Hamdard
- Gulabi Sapera
- Mamta Chandrakar
- Malini Awasthi
- Jai Prakash Lekhiwal
- K. Laxma Goud
- Bhalchandra Dattatray Mondhe
- Naresh Chander Lal
- Dhirendra Nath Bezbaruah
- Prahlad Chandra Tasa
- Ravindra Nagar
- Dahyabhai Shastri
- Santeshivara Bhyrappa
- Haldar Nag
- Kameshwaram Brahma
- Prof. Pushpesh Pant
- Jawaharlal Kaul
- Ashok Malik
- Mannam Gopi Chand
- Ravi Kant
- Ram Harsh Singh
- Shiv Narain Kureel
- Dr. Sabya Sachi Sarkar
- Dr. Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale
- T.K. Lahiri
- Praveen Chandra
- Daljeet Singh Gambhir
- Dr. Chandrasekar Shesadri Thoguluva
- Anil Kumari Malhotra
- M.V. Padma Srivastava
- Sudhir V. Shah
- M. M. Joshi
- John Ebnezar
- Dr. Nayudamma Yarlagadda
- Simon Oraon
- Imitiaz Qureshi
- Piyush Pandey
- Subhash Palekar
- Ravinder Kumar Sinha
- H.R. Nagendra
- M. C. Mehta
- M. N. Krishna Mani
- Ujjwal Nikam
- Tokheho Sema
- Satish Kumar
- Dr. Mylswamy Annadurai
- Dipankar Chatterji
- Ganapati Dadasaheb Yadav
- Veena Tandon
- Onkar Nath Srivastava
- Sunita Krishnan
- Ajoy Kumar Dutta
- M. Pandit Dasa
- P. P. Gopinathan Nair
- Madeleine Herman de Blic
- Srinivasan Damal Kandalai
- Sudhakar Olwe
- T.V. Narayana
- Arunachalam Murugantham
- Deepika Kumari
- Sushil Doshi
- Mahesh Sharma
- Saurabh Srivastava
- Dilip Sanghvi
- Dr. Keki Hormusji Gharda
Congratulations to all the recipients of the Padma Awards!
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