Dhak Dhak girl, Madhuri Dixit, was awarded the fourth highest civilian award in India, Padma Shri, on Saturday May 10, 2008. She was given the award for her contribution to the Indian cinema. Madhuri came all the way from Florida along with her husband Dr. Nene to receive the prestigious award from President Pratibha Patil. Manoj Night Shyamalan, Hans Raj Hans, Tom Alter and Baichung Bhutia also received Padma Shri awards. The function was held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

 

Ratan Tata, Lakshmi Mittal, E Sreedharan, Viswanathan Anand were among the other recipients of the Padma Awards. Former bureaucrat PN Dhar, former Chief Justice of India AS Anand and Nobel Prize winner R K Pachauri received the coveted Padma Vibhusan award whereas P Susheela and Lord Lord Meghnad Desai, Kaushik Basu and Padma Desai also received the Padma Bhusan award. However for the seventh consecutive year no one received the Bharat Ratna.

 

Meanwhile Madhuri said that her husband is very proud of her. She said that when she received the letter from India, her husband asked her about Padma Shri. When she told him about it he was simply awed.