Mumbai, May 10 (IANS): Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday conferred the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award on veteran actor-filmmaker Shashi Kapoor before an august gathering at the Prithvi Theatre here.

The 77-year-old came on the stage on a wheelchair, but he smiled and folded his hands in reverence after receiving the honour -- the third for Indian cinema's popular Kapoor family.

His family members were present for the occasion, along with megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan.

Due to Shashi's ill health, he could not travel to the capital for the award ceremony on May 3. So, minister Jaitley flew in here to confer the award on him.

A special audio-visual celebrating Shashi's film and personal journey was also screened at the event. It featured Amitabh, Shabana Azmi, Sharmila Tagore, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor talking about the cinematic icon, who also had an equal penchant for theatre.

Shashi started acting in films as a child artist in the late 1940s. His best known performances as child artist were in "Aag" (1948) and "Awaara" (1951), where he played the younger version of the character played by his elder brother Raj Kapoor.

Best known for his nuanced performance in memorable films like "Satyam Shivam Sundaram", "Trishul", "Kabhi Kabhie", "Vijeta" and "Kalyug", Shashi Kapoor has been staying away from the limelight since the late 1990s.