It was touching to see the late actor Vinod Khanna’s wife Kavita Daftary Khanna and his son Akshaye Khanna come up to receive the late actor’s Dadasaheb Phalke award from President Ram Nath Kovind. Akshaye, clad decorously in a suit, accompanied his step-mother to the podium to receive the honour bestowed on his father. It was among the awards in the last 11 categories which were handed out by the President; the previous sets of awards had been presented by Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani and other government officials.

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“We miss them today and we will miss them forever,” the President had tweeted in a message about Sridevi being this year’s winner of the Best Female Actor Award, and Vinod Khanna being conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his lifetime contribution.

It had been a “bittersweet moment” for the family, Akshaye Khanna had shared regarding his late father being awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award posthumously. In the capital to receive the honour, he had stated, “We are really proud as a family. It is a bittersweet moment for us. I wish my father was here to receive this award. I am missing him. It is an emotional day for us.”

Khanna, whose popularity in the 1970s rivalled Amitabh Bachchan’s, passed away last April. He was also a Union minister and BJP MP from Gurdaspur for four terms.
Khanna had died on April 27, 2017 at the age of 70 after battling cancer. He had been active in Bollywood till the very end. Some of his more recent film outings included Dabangg and Dilwale.

His Bollywood debut in the 1968 film Mann Ka Meet, came after producer Sunil Dutt was reportedly struck by Vinod’s good looks. His performance in Gulzar's 1971 film Mere Apne brought him more attention, and he went on to prove himself in Hum Tum Aur Woh, which featured him as a hero for the first time. It was the start of a great innings, which included films like Elaan and Mera Gaon Mera Desh.