Mammootty, Alka Yagnik Honoured With Padma Bhushan
President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Padma Bhushan on Mammootty and Alka Yagnik, and the Padma Shri on R Madhavan, at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Three very different careers, one shared stage. At Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Ganatantra Mandap, decades of work in Malayalam cinema, Bollywood playback singing, and Hindi-South crossover acting were folded into a single afternoon of applause, as President Droupadi Murmu handed out this year’s Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri to some of Indian entertainment’s most familiar names.
Who Received the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri in Cinema This Year?
Malayalam superstar Mammootty and veteran playback singer Alka Yagnik were both conferred the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour, at the first investiture ceremony of this year’s Padma Awards on May 25. Actor R Madhavan received the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award, at the same event.
The ceremony covered 66 of the 131 total Padma Awards approved this year, which include 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan, and 113 Padma Shri recipients across fields ranging from medicine and science to literature and public service. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, and Home Minister Amit Shah were present as the President honoured each recipient individually.
Alka Yagnik’s Padma Bhushan: A Five-Decade Voice Behind Bollywood’s Biggest Hits
Alka Yagnik’s Padma Bhushan recognises a singing career that started almost unbelievably early — she was performing bhajans on Calcutta Radio at the age of six. Her real breakthrough came decades later with “Ek Do Teen” from Tezaab in 1988, a song that turned her into one of Hindi cinema’s most in-demand voices through the 1990s and 2000s.
Across her career, Yagnik has sung in more than 700 films and recorded over 20,000 songs in 25 languages, picking up two National Film Awards and seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer along the way. In 2024, she revealed she had been diagnosed with a rare sensorineural hearing condition following a viral infection, which has kept her from taking on new singing work since. The Padma Bhushan lands at a point where her body of work is being celebrated even as her voice itself has gone quiet.
Mammootty’s Padma Bhushan: From a Padma Shri in 1998 to This Year’s Honour
For Mammootty, the Padma Bhushan adds to a civilian honours journey that began with the Padma Shri back in 1998. In the years between, he built a filmography of more than 400 films and three National Film Awards for Best Actor, for performances in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha and Mathilukal, Vidheyan and Ponthan Mada, and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
His son, actor Dulquer Salmaan, was reportedly among those watching from the audience as his father received the honour — a quietly emotional moment in an otherwise formal ceremony. Mammootty’s recent work, including the horror film Bramayugam and the multi-starrer Patriot, shows he remains an active presence in Malayalam cinema even five decades into his career.
R Madhavan’s Padma Shri: Three Decades, One Long-Awaited Honour
R Madhavan’s Padma Shri was actually announced back in January, around Republic Day, with the formal investiture only happening now at the May ceremony — a gap that is fairly standard for the Padma Awards process. Known to fans simply as “Maddy,” Madhavan has spent close to 30 years moving between Hindi and South Indian cinema, with memorable roles in Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein, 3 Idiots, and Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, the last of which also won him a National Award in 2023.
When the award was first announced in January, Madhavan posted on Instagram that he accepted it with what he called profound gratitude and humility, dedicating it to his family, mentors and well-wishers.
A Ceremony Also Marked by Loss
Not every honour at this year’s ceremony came with a happy ending in the room. Veteran actor Dharmendra was conferred the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award, posthumously. He died on November 24, 2025, at the age of 89, and it was his wife, actress Hema Malini, who received the award on his behalf, with their daughter Ahana Deol visibly emotional beside her.
Comic actor Satish Shah, who died last year, also received a posthumous Padma Shri, alongside live honours for Bengali star Prosenjit Chatterjee and veteran theatre actors Arvind Vaidya and Anil Kumar Rastogi. Between the joy of Mammootty’s and Yagnik’s moments and the quiet grief around Dharmendra’s, the ceremony captured both sides of what a lifetime in Indian entertainment can look like.
What’s Next for This Year’s Padma Awards
With only 66 of the 131 approved Padma Awards conferred so far, the remaining recipients are expected to receive their honours in subsequent investiture ceremonies at Rashtrapati Bhavan later in the year, following the usual pattern of awards being announced in January and presented in phases afterward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Who received the Padma Bhushan in 2026 from the film industry?
Malayalam actor Mammootty and playback singer Alka Yagnik both received the Padma Bhushan at the Rashtrapati Bhavan ceremony on May 25, 2026.
Q. Who received the Padma Shri along with the Padma Bhushan winners?
Actor R Madhavan received the Padma Shri at the same ceremony, alongside Bengali actor Prosenjit Chatterjee and veteran actor Satish Shah, who was honoured posthumously.
Q. Why did Hema Malini accept an award on someone else’s behalf?
She accepted the Padma Vibhushan on behalf of her late husband, actor Dharmendra, who died on November 24, 2025, and was honoured posthumously at this ceremony.
Q. How many Padma Awards were given out this year in total?
The government approved 131 Padma Awards this year, comprising 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan, and 113 Padma Shri, with 66 of them conferred at this first investiture ceremony.
Q. Had Mammootty received a civilian honour before this?
Yes. He received the Padma Shri in 1998, making the Padma Bhushan his second national civilian honour, 28 years apart.
Conclusion
Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri ceremonies tend to move fast on the day itself — a name is called, a medal is pinned, a photo is taken — but the careers behind each of those few seconds rarely move fast at all. Alka Yagnik’s six decades of singing, Mammootty’s 400-plus films, and R Madhavan’s three decades of switching between Hindi and South cinema all came down to one afternoon at Rashtrapati Bhavan. With two-thirds of this year’s Padma Award recipients still to be honoured in later ceremonies, there will be more such afternoons before the year is done.
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