Yash Chopra was conferred the Zenith Asia Honour for his contribution to Indian cinema at a ceremony at the National Film Archive of India on 13th November 2007. The honour is linked to the Asian Film Festival held in Pune and was announced there earlier at the Fifth edition of the Festival.
The award was handed to him by Kiran V. Shantaram, president of the Asian Film Foundation and convenor of the Fifth Asian Film Festival, Mohan Agashe. The award citation called him “Indian cinema’s brand ambassador” and commended him for his unique ability to “strike the right balance between art and commerce”. It also highlighted how Yash Raj Films had become the nursery where emerging talents of Indian cinema are being nurtured.
Yash Chopra, on his part, accepted the award with his customary grace and noted that even after all these years, it was still humbling to receive an award. He went on to add that the award was not for him alone. “It is also for the technicians, actors and singers who have created the track record along with me,” he said. In his acceptance speech, he spoke candidly and passionately about the state of Indian cinema and the film industry, which was going through a rather interesting phase.
The past recipients of the Zenith Asia Honour have been actor-director Aparna Sen and Iranian director Majid Majidi.
Courtesy: IndiaFM
