Cinephiles are happy for Megastar Chiranjeevi. The legendary actor, without a doubt, deserves Padma Vibhushan like ANR and Superstar Rajinikanth did. He deserves it as much as Amitabh Bachchan and Dilip Kumar did.
But cinephiles argue that a few other cinema legends should have already been given the second highest civilian honour. Mohanlal and Mammootty from Malayalaym cinema, Kamal Haasan from Tamil cinema, and late Sridevi are quoted as those deserving of the Padma Vibhushan.
"The likes of Mohanlal have changed the face of regional cinema as much as Chiranjeevi transformed Telugu cinema. Shantaram, Zohra Sehgal, and Vyjayanthi Bala were honoured with the Padma Vibhushan years ago. What is stopping the government from honouring southern legends?" a cinephile asked.
Kamal Haasan, it is said, would have long won the Vibhushan had it not been for his political opinions. At least, the BJP won't give him the honour given that he regards the RSS-BJP duo as extremely communal and divisive.
Multiple factors play a role. The central governments, dominated by Hindi-speakers, ignore icons from regional cinema due to a lack of genuine awareness. For decades, until last year, no Telugu actor won the Best Actor National Award. None had won the award before Allu Arjun.
