Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; May 11, 2015)

Ajay Devgn has won not just one, but two National Awards. While we all know about the prestige involved in receiving a National Award, the protocol behind receiving it is equally special. Telling us about his own experience, Ajay said, “You have to go one day in advance when they make you stand in a line, they tell you what is your number, there will be a mock President standing and you go and they teach you how to shake his hand and how much time you can spend as you can't waste the honourable President's time the next day. Even though there are no speeches to be given, you are conscious of not wanting to make a mistake and feel like a schoolboy standing in that line. They put you up at Hotel Ashoka and give you cash of Rs 1,500 against voucher for your chai and khana peena and conveyance and then, of course, basis the award you have won, you also get a cash award which in my case, once was Rs 50,000 and the second time approximately Rs 1 lakh. The whole protocol and experience is truly special.“