Jaya Bachchan to be conferred with Deenanath Mangeshkar Award

April 24 would be the day when legendary playback singing star Lata Mangeshkar would honour veteran actress Jaya Bachchan with the prestigious Deenanath Mangeshkar Award. On the death anniversary of Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, Jaya would be acknowledged with the Master Deenanath (Vishesh Puraskar) Award for her extraordinary contribution to Indian theatre and cinema.

Lata Mangeshkar has been quoted as saying, "I like all her films. I am fond of Bachchans and so are they.” The melody queen went on, "I remember she (Jaya) would come for my song recordings before she began shooting forAbhimaan. During my recordings she used to stare at me and I kept thinking as to why she is doing this. When I saw the film I noticed she had somewhere copied my gestures like the way I used to stand, adjust my pallu etc.” Jaya Bachchan depicted Lata Mangeshkar in Hrishikesh Mukherjee'sAbhimaan, by playing the role of a rising playback singer.

Master Deenanath Award, founded in the name of Lata Mangeshkar's father, is quite renowned for its recognition of talent in the arena of music and films. On April 24 several other veteran musicians, artists, actors, dramatists and social workers will also be awarded at the event, with the prize money of Rs. 1, 01,001 and a memento. Suresh Wadkar and Vandana Gupte will also be honoured for their immense role in Marathi theatre and cinema.