HYDERABAD: Veteran actress
Sharada has demanded that
Sridevi who passed away recently should be conferred the nation's highest honour -
Bharat Ratna
- posthumously. Tributes were paid to the memory of the celebrity actress in a meeting in Chennai on Friday. In an emotional speech, Sharada said Sridevi had won the hearts of people in all the
South Indian languages
and and she was known across the country as a Bollywood actress. Sridevi was born in Chennai and entered the film industry in her childhood. She went on to act in 300 films in different languages.
Sharada's appeal of Bharat Ratna for Sridevi has raised eye brows.
Veerender Chennoju
, well-known counselling psychologist from Hyderabad couldn't help but comment saying, "When did the Bharat Ratna become so cheap?" A retired professor, Mohammed Abbas Ali quipped: "Is she greater than
N T Rama Rao
?"
It may be mentioned here that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had been demanding the centre to confer Bharat Ratna on N T Rama Rao from the time he passed away in January 1996. It is been 21 years since the demand has been pending with successive governments at the centre. A demand for Bharat Ratna by the TDP was made even in January this year.
During her speech at the meeting in Chennai, actress Sharada said the demand for bestowing Bharat Ratna on Sridevi should be immediately put before the government. She said representations should be made to the Tamil Nadu governor, President of India and the Prime Minister.
Describing Sridevi's as 'Bharata Kohinoor', she said the government should take steps to confer Bharat Ratna on her.
Sushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyde...
Read MoreSushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyderabad. He began his journalism career at the age of 20 in 1988. He is a gold medalist in journalism from the Department of Communication and Journalism, Arts College, Osmania University, Hyderabad from where he did his post-graduation from. He has been with The Times of India’s Hyderabad edition since its launch in 2000. He has also done an introductory course in film studies from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and also from the Central University of Kerala equipping himself with the knowledge of filmmaking for film criticism. He has authored four books. In his career spanning 34 years, he has worked for five newspapers and has also done television reporting. He was also a web journalist during internet’s infancy in the mid 1990s in India. He covers defence, politics, diaspora, innovation, administration, the film industry, Hyderabad city and Telangana state, and human interest stories. He is also a podcaster, blogger, does video reporting and makes documentaries.
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