With the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to actor Shah Rukh Khan, the ‘NDTV Indian of the Year’ award ceremony, co-sponsored by The Indian Express, was as sparkling as it could get.

From the Prime Minister, a self-proclaimed “politician by accident”, winning the ‘Leader of the Year’ award, to the confident Bollywood superstar sharing his message for honesty for politicians in reply to a question from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, the winners in the seven categories were equally deserving.

The award in the Cinema category went to the biggest star of south India, Rajnikanth, while Shah Rukh Khan won the special award in the category. And both the actors were seen to be complimenting each other generously at the function. “He (Shah Rukh Khan) is an excellent actor. I like his integrity. He is serious about promoting cinema and hockey,”’ Rajnikanth said, while describing Amitabh Bachchan an “actor par excellence” in reply to a question.

While chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand was honoured with the ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ award by Union Sports Minister Mani Shanker Aiyar, former cricket captain MAK Pataudi presented the special award in the category to football player Bhaichung Bhutia and the hockey team in the Chak de India film. “From the most unlikely minister of sports to the most deserving sportsperson primarily because he belongs to my constituency,” Aiyar said in jest while presenting the award to Anand’s parents.

The Global Indian award went to R K Pachauri, the chief of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. The nominees in the category included PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Vodafone Group Plc. CEO Arun Sarin and filmmaker Mira Nair.

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