Amitabh Bachchan was honoured with the Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar Puraskar and the megastar said he is fortunate to receive the award in the memory of the singer whose voice connected listeners to a higher power.
The award was established by the family and trust in honour of the late melody queen, the eldest of the Mangeshkar siblings, who passed away in 2022 due to multiple organ failure.
"I'm fortunate to receive this award. I never really regarded myself worthy of such an award, but Hridyanath ji tried hard so that I could come here. He even invited me for this ceremony last year.
"Hridaynath ji, I apologise to you for last time. I had then told you I was unwell. I was healthy but didn't want to come here. This year I had no excuse, so I had to come here," Bachchan said in his award acceptance speech.
The actor said his father and celebrated Hindi poet Harivansh used to liken Lata Mangeshkar's voice to "shehad ki dhaar" .
"The sweetness in her voice was honey and as the flow of honey never breaks, her 'swar' (vocal ) never breaks. Whenever someone hits the right chord, our soul meets with 'parmatma' . And Lata Mangeshkar ji's 'swar' joins us with God," Bachchan said.
