President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday presented the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the country's highest award in cinema, to legendary Telugu director K Vishwanath at Vignan Bhawan in New Delhi. The award was announced a week ago but it was presented on Wednesday.

He received a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a shawl."Endaro Maahanu Baaavulu....andariki vandanalu," he said in his speech and thanked the jury and god. This was the first time that a Phalke award recipient was speaking at the stage. Earlier recipients were not given chance to speak. 

At the same stage, National Film Awards for 2016 were presented. Dil Raju and director Satish Vegesna received awards for their film 'Satamanam Bhavati' that won National Best Popular Film award. The  "Pelli Choopulu" team also received award from President. Best Regional Film (in Telugu) award was given to "Pelli Choopulu" and the film's writer-director Tarun Bhaskar also won the Best Dialogue writer award.