Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will be honoured with the inaugural Meryl Streep Award for Excellence at the first Women in Film and Television (WIFT) India Awards.

The Miss World 1994, will receive the award on Saturday at the Hyatt Regency here, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

WIFT India said that Aishwarya will receive the award for showcasing a 'distinction in her craft and for expanding the role of women within the entertainment industry.'

Apart from Aishwarya, filmmaker Zoya Akhtar will receive the Wyler Award for Excellence in Direction, and Dhadak star Janhvi Kapoor will receive the WIFT Emerald Award.

"The Wyler Award is so surreal for me as I grew up in Bombay (Mumbai), got a video player in the eighties and one of the first films I ever saw on it was Ben-Hur," Akhtar said.

WIFT has been established to honour the best female talent in Bollywood and Hollywood.