Who was the first recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award?

Explanation

The actress Devika Rani received the first Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1969. She was honoured as one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, and she is often called the "First Lady of Indian Cinema".

Devika Rani (1908-1994) was born in Waltair (Visakhapatnam), in present-day Andhra Pradesh. She was a grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore. She studied in London, where she trained in architecture, textile design and decor, and she met the film producer Himanshu Rai, whom she married. They worked in the German film industry for some time, learning the techniques of filmmaking. Back in India, they founded Bombay Talkies in 1934, one of the most important film studios of its time, which introduced stars such as Ashok Kumar and Dilip Kumar. Devika Rani starred in many successful films, such as "Karma" (1933), the English-language film famous for its long kiss scene, and "Achhut Kanya" (1936), with Ashok Kumar, which dealt with untouchability. After Himanshu Rai's death in 1940, she managed Bombay Talkies for a few years. She later married the Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich and settled in Bengaluru. She received the Padma Shri in 1958.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award in Indian cinema, given by the Government of India for lifetime contribution to cinema. It was instituted in 1969, the birth centenary year of Dadasaheb Phalke (1870-1944), the "Father of Indian Cinema", who made India's first full-length feature film, "Raja Harishchandra", in 1913. The award consists of a golden lotus (Swarna Kamal), a cash prize and a shawl.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Prithviraj Kapoor received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1971, after his death.
• ✗Satyajit Ray received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1984.
• ✗Raj Kapoor received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1987.