Padma Awards 2025: Balakrishna, Arijit Singh, Shekhar Kapur, Ajith Kumar receive the honour from President Droupadi Murmu

On Monday, the Padma Awards 2025 took place in Delhi’s Rashtrapati Bhavan. The red carpet event witnessed the presence of many celebs. Among them, Nandamuri Balakrishna, Ajith Kumar, Shekhar Kapur, Arijit Singh and Ricky Kej received their awards from President Droupadi Murmu. Famous and late singer Pankaj Udhas was honoured posthumously. The ceremony also honoured different eminent personalities from other walks of life.

Different Indian celebrities from across the country marked their presence in the award show and also received their Padma awards. While actor Nandamuri Balakrishna opted for traditional Andhra Pradesh clothing, Ajith Kumar wore a suit for the special occasion. On the other hand, Shekhar Kapur and Shobhana were honoured with the Padma Bhushan award. For the late singer Pankaj Udhas, it was his wife who accepted the award in his honour.

The Padma Shri was awarded to Arijit Singh and Ricky Kej. The award ceremony was broadcast live on YouTube. Several other recipients from the fields of sports, medicine, business, and more were also honoured on Monday.

Take a look here:

President Droupadi Murmu presents Padma Bhushan in the field of Art to Shri Nandamuri Balakrishna. He is a popular actor in the Telugu Cinema. During a career spanning over five decades, he acted in films of various genres and enacted memorable roles. He is also recognised for… pic.twitter.com/9ACBGQfOTj

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) April 28, 2025

Back in January, when the awards were announced, Ajith issued a statement that read, “I am deeply humbled and honoured to receive the esteemed Padma Award by the President of India. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu and the Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi for this prestigious honour. It is a privilege to be recognized at such a level and I am truly grateful for this generous acknowledgment of my contributions to our nation.”

Shekhar had also taken to his X account (formerly known as Twitter) and shared, “What an honour! Am humbled that the Government of India has considered me to be deserving of a #Padmabhushan. Hopefully, this award will make me strive harder to serve the Industry that I am part of, and the beautiful Nation that I am so fortunate to belong to. Thank you also to our film audiences of India, for I am because you are.”

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