Bollywood has always been a considerable presence in the list of Padma Shri awardees. The fourth highest civilian award in India, the Padma Shri award is given to recognize a person’s distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity. Among the film celebrities who received Padma Shri awards for the year 2008 on 26 January from the President of India include two Bollywood actors – Madhuri Dixit and Tom Alter – and the Indian-American Hollywood film director Manoj Night Shyamalan.

Madhuri Dixit, who won many hearts with her million-dollar-smile and returned to the silver screen with ‘Aaja Nachle’ after a five-year hiatus last year, has been humbled by the honor of a Padma Shri Award. Although her comeback film proved to be a dud at the box office, Madhuri remained unfazed. Forayed into Bollywood in 1986 with ‘Abodh’, the ravishing actress has several hits to her credit, including ‘Tezaab’, ‘Dil’, ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ and ‘Devdas’.

After being catapulted to fame with the hit dance number “Ek DoTeen” in 1988, there was no looking back for Madhuri. She went on to give a string of hits like ‘Dayavan’ and ‘Ram Lakhan’. She bagged her first Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance in ‘Dil’ and then for her role in ‘Beta’. Madhuri’s electrifying dance number “Choli Ke Peechhe..” in ‘Khalnayak’ proved a huge hit and her fan following simply soared.

Her success story was repeated with yet another Bollywood blockbuster ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun!’, which won her Filmfare once again. Her strong performance in superhit ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ won her the fourth Filmfare Best Actress award.

The dancing diva not only won the hearts of the common people, but she also charmed renowned Indian painter M.F. Hussain, who cast her in his celluloid canvas ‘Gaja Gamini’.

In 2001, Madhuri was honored with the National Citizens Award, which recognizes excellence in various activities affecting national life. The very next year she starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s extravagant ‘Devdas’ with Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai. Besides earning rave reviews for her acting, she also bagged a Filmfare Award for best supporting actress.

It was after Devdas that she happened to take a break from Bollywood and devote more time to her family in the US. In a statement from Denver, US, where she is settled with her a doctor husband and two kids, Madhuri said, “I wish to thank all the individuals, who have contributed to my success through the years, and the award is a reflection of their efforts.”

An Indian actor of American origin, Tom Alter is the other film personality who received the Padma Shri Award besides Madhuri for his distinguished contribution in the field of art. In a career spanning about three decades, this blue-eyed actor of Bollywood has played a variety of characters both in real life and reel life. Recently, this 57 year-old multifaceted actor left stage buffs in a thrall in Oman with his solo play on the life, times and scholarship of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

Alter began his career with cameo roles in films like Satyajit Ray's ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ in 1977 and played Lord Mountbatten in the movie on Sardar Patel in 1993. For years he got to play English characters, till filmmakers like Raj Kapoor in ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’, Mukul Anand in ‘Sultanat’ and Vidhu Vinod Chopra in ‘Parinda’ created Indian characters for him.

Other celebrated works of this versatile actor include ‘Charas’, ‘Parvarish’, ‘Des Pardes’, ‘Kranti’, ‘Gandhi’ and ‘Khoon Bhari Maang’, to name a few. The seasoned actor endeared himself to thousands of television serial buffs with his act in ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’, ‘Junoon’ and ‘Betaal Pachisi’. Tom Alter recently appeared in low-budget blockbuster ‘Bheja Fry’.

The third one to receive the Padma Shri this year for his notable contribution to cinema is Indian-American actor, director, producer and writer Manoj Night Shyamalan. His two films, ‘The Village’ and ‘The Sixth Sense’, earned nominations for Academy Awards. Manoj Night Shyamalan is known for his supernatural plots, which usually end with a twist. He is also famous for filming his movies in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and enacting small roles in most of his films. He has established himself as a master of suspense in a ridiculously short space of time.

Born in Pondicherry to a doctor couple, Malayali Nelliattu C. Shyamalan and Tamilian Jeyalakshmi, the renowned filmmaker spent his first six weeks in Pondicherry and then was raised in Penn Valley, Pennsylvania, an affluent suburb of Philadelphia.

The filmmaker is now all set to wow international audiences with his next venture ‘The Happening’.