The Government announced the list of Padma Awardees, which are among the some of the highest civilian honor, on Republic Day eve.
Although Bollywood has no recipients this year, late playback legend SP Balasubramanyam has been honored posthumously with Padma Vibhushan. He is the only name from the entertainment industry among seven names who are recipients of the second-highest civil honor.
Carnatic singer Chithra has been awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest honor while singer Bombay Jayashri Ramnath has been awarded Padma Shri.
Although the late Balasubramanyam is best known for his singing, he was a multi-faceted talent who made his mark as an actor, anchor, composer, and film producer, too. He worked predominantly in the Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam film industries.
He has won six National Awards as Best Male Playback Singer for his works in four different languages — mHindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada.
He has been a recipient of Padma Shri in 2001 and Padma Bhushan in 2011.
On September 25, 2020, Balasubramanyam died in Chennai after being hospitalized for more than a month following Covid complications.
