WTF! Dear Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh, Did You Know Even Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Got a 'Dadasaheb Phalke' Award?

Dadasaheb Phalke was considered as the Father of Indian Cinema, and therefore an award in his name is often considered as a great honour for all the personalities in the film industry. Recently we have read reports about Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh getting Dadasaheb Phalke Awards. Anushka Sharma will get the Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award for her efforts as a producer, while Ranveer Singh gets the best actor award for his performance as Khilji in Padmaavat. While the news is something to rejoice for the fans of these two stars, we have to pause here and ask - which awards are these?

The Dadasaheb Phalke awards are considered as the highest honour Indian government can give to someone who works in the field of cinema. The award is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals. The former recipients of this award have been  Devika Rani,  Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor,  Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Shashi Kapoor and Yash Chopra among others. In fact, the last time the award was conferred to director Kasinathuni Viswanath in 2016. Yes, you read it right. In 2016.

So which awards did Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh get? These awards are given out by a Mumbai-based organisation called, well, Dadasaheb Phalke Foundation and it has nothing to do with the Indian Government.

Also if you are one of those who think  award toh award hai, then also remember that the same organisation also gave the now imprisoned, controversial Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh 'Insan' an award for "most popular actor, director and writer" for his MSG series. Here's the proof,

This organisation doesn't even pull up a website of its own, and only boasts of a Facebook page. So much for that big name!

So before you celebrate these awards given to your popular stars, do make sure you also find out the authenticity behind these organisations who dole out these 'honours'. Remember the time when Katrina Kaif got a Smita Patil Memorial Award, for her 'outstanding contribution to Hindi cinema'?

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 11, 2018 09:27 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).