MID-DAY (September 26, 2014)

Last year saw the Jagran Film Festival honour Manoj Kumar with the Lifetime Achievement Award. This year, veteran actress Asha Parekh will receive the same at the closing ceremony of the festival. The legendary actress, who has acted in scores of Indian films in the ’50s and ’60s, will be present on the awards night that will be held on Sunday.

It may be pointed out that Asha Parekh, also known as the Jubilee girl, made her debut in 1959 in Dil Deke Dekho, and she followed it up with stellar performances in films such as Teesri Manzil ( 1966), Kati Patang (1970) and Caravan (1971). Not surprisingly, she has been a name to reckon with and in 1992, she was awarded the Padma Shri for her contribution to arts. In 1995, the actress retired from acting and chose to divert her energies towards producing television serials and she even experimented with direction.

“We are honoured to confer the Lifetime Achievement Award to Asha Parekh. Her films have been loved and celebrated by millions of cinema lovers across India. We are humbled that she has agreed to receive this award,” said the official spokesperson for the fifth Jagran Film Festival.