Shah Rukh Khan chosen for Yash Chopra Memorial Award

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan featured in some of the biggest hits helmed by filmmaker Yash Chopra and now he has been selected for an award instituted in the memory of late Bollywood legend.

The 'Badshah of Bollywood" will receive the fourth National Yash Chopra Memorial Award, the award jury, comprising Chopra's wife Pamela, filmmaker Boney Kapoor, Simi Garewal, Padmini Kohlapuri, Subbarami Reddy, Any and Shashi Ranjan, announced today.
The award - whose previous recipients were Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha - will be presented on February 25.

Pamela said the two biggest reasons why the 51-year-old actor was chosen are that he was extremely close to Chopra - he did four films with Shah Rukh, which were all big hits - and also because of the iconic status that SRK enjoys.

"The award is given to those who are icons, who we know are legends like we gave to Lata Mangeshkar and Amitabh Bachchan. Last year, it was Rekha, who will be a legend tomorrow and same is the case with Shah Rukh. Also, Yash was very close to Shah Rukh and they both were extremely fond of each other," Pamela told reporters here.

Padmini said she could only think of Shah Rukh for the award as he is not just a fantastic actor but also an extremely humble person despite attaining stardom.

"Shah Rukh is not just one of the biggest stars of our film industry but also known globally. Despite the onslaught of action heroes and actors famous in other genres, Shah Rukh has maintained his position for the longest time. Off screen, he is a very humble person. He is humility personified and very hardworking," she said.