Asha's Interview -  On receiving Dada  Saheb Phalke Award New picture added to the Photo Album of Asha ji receiving the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award

NEW DELHI: Noted singer Asha Bhonsle has been given the Dada Saheb Phalke Award for 2000, it was announced here on Thursday. The award for outstanding contribution to the Indian film industry carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, a shawl and a swarna kamal. Asha, younger sister of melody queen Lata Mangeshkar who also has received the Phalke award, is popularly called "India's nightingale" for her melodious renditions spanning six decades and has the unique distinction of having sung nearly 12,000 songs mainly in Hindi and also various other Indian languages. Bhonsle said, "I am feeling very good on receiving the award but it has been given too late because I was born in 1933 and I have been singing for the last 56 years. I sang my first song in 1943 and I have got this award now. But they have remembered me and that is a lot." The cinema award is named in memory of renowned producer and director, Dadasaheb Phalke. ( PTI )