Before Mohanlal: A look at previous Dadasaheb Phalke Award winners
Legendary actor, director, and producer Mohanlal has been announced as the recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2023, the highest honour in Indian cinema, following the recommendation of the award’s selection committee.
The prestigious accolade will be presented at the 71st National Film Awards ceremony on September 23, 2025.
Here’s a detailed look at past recipients of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, celebrating the remarkable contributions of artists across India’s diverse film industries.
Ceremonial Year | Recipient | Film industry |
| 2024 (74th) | Mithun Chakraborty | Hindi |
| 2023 (73rd) | Rekha | Hindi |
| 2022 (72nd) | Asha Parekh | Hindi |
| 2021 (71st) | Waheeda Rehman | Hindi |
| 2020 (70th) | Asha Parekh | Hindi |
| 2019 (67th) | Rajnikanth | Tamil |
| 2018 (66th) | Amitabh Bachchan | Hindi |
| 2017 (65th) | Vinod Khanna | Hindi |
| 2016 (64th) | Kasinathuni Viswanath | Telugu |
| 2015 (63rd) | Manoj Kumar | Hindi |
| 2014 (62nd) | Shashi Kapoor | Hindi |
| 2013 (61st) | Gulzar | Hindi |
| 2012 (60th) | Pran | Hindi |
| 2011 (59th) | Soumitra Chatterjee | Bengali |
| 2010 (58th) | K. Balachander | Tamil, Telugu |
| 2009 (57th) | D. Ramanaidu | Telugu |
| 2008 (56th) | V. K. Murthy | Hindi |
| 2007(55th) | Manna Dey | Bengali, Hindi |
| 2006 (54th) | Tapan Sinha | Bengali, Hindi |
| 2005 (53rd) | Shyam Benegal | Hindi |
| 2004 (52nd) | Adoor Gopalakrishnan | Malayalam |
| 2003 (51st) | Mrinal Sen | Bengali |
| 2002 (50th) | Dev Anand | Hindi |
| 2001 (49th) | Yash Chopra | Hindi |
| 2000 (48th) | Asha Bhosle | Hindi, Marathi |
| 1999 (47th) | Hrishikesh Mukherjee | Hindi |
| 1998 (46th) | B. R. Chopra | Hindi |
| 1997 (45th) | Kavi Pradeep | Hindi |
| 1996 (44th) | Sivaji Ganesan | Tamil |
| 1995 (43rd) | Rajkumar | Kannada |
| 1994 (42nd) | Dilip Kumar | Hindi |
| 1993 (41st) | Majrooh Sultanpuri | Hindi |
| 1992 (40th) | Bhupen Hazarika | Assamese |
| 1991 (39th) | Bhalji Pendharkar | Marathi |
| 1990 (38th) | Akkineni Nageswara Rao | Telugu |
| 1989 (37th) | Lata Mangeshkar | Hindi, Marathi |
| 1988 (36th) | Ashok Kumar | Hindi |
| 1987 (35th) | Raj Kapoor | Hindi |
| 1986 (34th) | B. Nagi Reddy | Telugu |
| 1985 (33rd) | V. Shantaram | Hindi, Marathi |
| 1984 (32nd) | Satyajit Ray | Bengali |
| 1983 (31st) | Durga Khote | Hindi, Marathi |
| 1982 (30th) | L. V. Prasad | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu |
| 1981 (29th) | Naushad | Hindi |
| 1980 (28th) | Paidi Jairaj | Hindi, Telugu |
| 1979 (27th) | Sohrab Modi | Hindi |
| 1978 (26th) | Raichand Boral | Bengali, Hindi |
| 1977 (25th) | Nitin Bose | Bengali, Hindi |
| 1976 (24th) | Kanan Devi | Bengali |
| 1975 (23rd) | Dhirendra Nath Ganguly | Bengali |
| 1974 (22nd) | Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy | Telugu |
| 1973 (21st) | Ruby Myers (Sulochana) | Hindi |
| 1972 (20th) | Pankaj Mullick | Bengali & Hindi |
| 1971 (19th) | Prithviraj Kapoor | Hindi |
| 1970 (18th) | Birendranath Sircar | Bengali |
| 1969 (17th) | Devika Rani | Hindi |