MUMBAI: Legendary Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar and megastar Amitabh Bachchan have been conferred with the second highest national honour – the Padma Vibhushan – in the Republic Day honours this year.

A former Information and Broadcasting Minister, veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani has also been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan.

India TV’s Rajat Sharma, Assamese filmmaker Jahnu Barua, carnatic composer and vocalist Sudha Raghunathan, and khayal and dhrupad classical vocalist Dr. (Pandit) Gokulotsavji Maharaj are also among the recipients of the Padma Bhushan.

The Padma Shri awardees include filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, wildlife and natural life filmmaker Naresh Bedi, veteran music director Ravindra Jain, lyricist Prasoon Joshi and author Tarak Mehta on whose writings the popular television series ‘Tarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chashma’ is based.

Recipients of Padma Shri from the music field include carnatic music vocalist A. Kanyakumari, Oriya singer and musician Prafulla Kar, Shillong Chamber Choir founder Neil Herbert Nongkynrih, music composer and singer Shekhar Sen and Hindustani classical vocalist Tripti Mukherjee, who is now based in the United States.

Cartoonist and ‘Chacha Choudhary’ creator Pran Kumar Sharma who died in August last year has also been named posthumously for the Padma Shri.

The Bachchan family now boasts of six Padma awards: Amitabh has earlier received the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan; his late father Harivansh Rai Bachchan received the Padma Bhushan, and his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and his wife Jaya Bachchan have also received the Padma Shri.