Filmmakers Ekta Kapoor and Karan Johar, who received their Padma Shri awards for Art on Monday, expressed their happiness and gratitude in heartwarming posts on social media. Ekta Kapoor, who attended the award ceremony in New Delhi with her father and veteran actor Jeetendra, received the Padma Shri award for her contribution to the field of performing arts. The Padma awards - that are being handed out in four batches - are for the year 2020. Sharing a photo of herself and her father with her award, Ekta Kapoor wrote in an Instagram post: "Thank you...the biggest day of my professional life and second only to the birth of my son! #padmashri #JAIHIND." Ekta Kapoor welcomed her son Ravie through surrogacy on January 27 in 2019.
In a separate post, Ekta Kapoor described being honoured with Padma Shri "a surreal moment" and dedicated her award to her family - dad Jeetendra, mom Shobha, brother Tusshan, son Ravie and nephew Laksshya. She wrote: "It is an absolute honour to receive the Fourth Highest Civilian Award for my humble contribution in the field of performing arts. It is a surreal moment and a matter of great pride. I want to dedicate this badge of honour to my pillars of strength - my mom Tusshar, Laqu, Ravie and Dad. They believed in me with their whole heart and it is because of them, I am who I am! I want to thank my family, friends, my team at Balaji Telefilms and most importantly - the audience, for believing in me and supporting me" and added: "I hope to always push the envelope, challenge norms, give talents a platform that they truly deserve, instill pride and give back to the country that has fueled my ambition and dreams."
Read Ekta Kapoor's posts here:
Karan Johar described the feeling of receiving the Padma award from the hands of President Shri Ram Nath Kovind "surreal" and wrote this in a post on Instagram: "Today felt surreal! I am honoured and humbled that the prestigious Padma Shri Award was bestowed on me. I feel extremely fortunate to receive it from the hands of our honourable President Shri Ram Nath Kovind. This is a momumental day for me, my mother, my kids and my company, and will forever be etched in my memory. Thank you so much for all your wishes and the abundance of love!"
In another Instagram post, Karan Johar wrote about receiving the award with her mom by his side and what his kids Yash and Roohi said to him after he was honoured with the Padma award. "About last evening.... A truly memorable moment in my life..... I knew I would have made my father so proud and was so happy to have my mom there by my side.... My babies asked me " dada you won a medal? " and I replied "yes I did I hope you do too one day "!! The #padmashri ... Humbled and honoured," wrote KJo.
Ekta Kapoor and Karan Johar received their Padma Shri awards in the second ceremony that took place in the evening. Actress Kangana Ranaut and Adnan Sami were awarded the Padma Shri in the morning on Monday.
Singer SP Balasubrahmanyam, who died in September last year, will receive the Padma Vibhushan posthumously today.