New Delhi, Apr 1 (IANS): Superstar Rajinikanth will be honoured with the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Thursday.

Javadekar took to Twitter to announce the news. Calling Rajinikanth "one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema", he said that the actor was being awarded for his contribution in the field of acting, production and screenwriting for Indian cinema.

Posting a picture of the actor, Javadekar wrote: "Happy to announce #Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2020 to one of the greatest actors in history of Indian cinema Rajnikant ji His contribution as actor, producer and screenwriter has been iconic I thank Jury @ashabhosle @SubhashGhai1 @Mohanlal @Shankar_Live #BiswajeetChatterjee."

Widely regarded as one of the most popular cinematic icons in India, Rajinikanth has also been honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2016 by the Government of India.

Rajinikanth, who enjoys a demigod status, made his debut in Tamil cinema with "Apoorva Raagangal". Among his numerous hits are films like "Baashha", "Sivaji" and "Enthiran". He is known as Thalaivar or leader by his fans.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest honour in cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards by Directorate of Film Festivals of the Information and Broadcasting ministry of the Government of India. The first recipient of the award was actress Devika Rani. Recent recipients include Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, filmmaker K.Vishwanath and Manoj Kumar.