Shashi Kapoor one of the most versatile personalities Indian Cinema has produced: Jaitley

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley on Sunday termed veteran actor-filmmaker Shashi Kapoor as one of the most 'versatile personalities India Cinema has produced', stating that he had carved out a niche in the industry for himself.

"Shashi Kapoor is undoubtedly one of the most versatile personalities that Indian Cinema has produced, an actor par excellence, who in his time competed with the very best and almost competed to different generation of film actors and carved out a niche for himself," Jaitley said, while conferring the actor with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

"It is indeed a very important and a very charting moment that one of the veterans of the film industries is being honoured with the highest Cinema Award for the year 2014, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award," he added.

Shashi Kapoor received the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award at a special ceremony at the Prithvi Theatres here. He was unable to attend the National Film Awards held earlier in Delhi due to his ill health.