The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The recipient is honoured for their "outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema".and is selected by a committee consisting of eminent personalities from the Indian film industry.First presented in 1969, the award was introduced by the Government of India to commemorate Dadasaheb Phalke's contribution to Indian cinema. Phalke (1870–1944), who is popularly known as and often regarded as "the father of Indian cinema", was an Indian film-maker who directed India's first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra (1913).

Dadasaheb Phalke Award Winners
YEAR	RECIPIENT	FILM INDUSTRY	NOTES
1969	Devika Rani	Hindi	Actress
1970	Birendranath Sircar	Bengali	Producer
1971	Prithviraj Kapoor	Hindi	Actor (posthumous)
1972	Pankaj Mullick	Hindi,Bengali	Composer (Music Director)
1973	Ruby Myers (Sulochana)	Hindi	Actress
1974	Bomireddi Narasimha Reddy	Telugu	Director
1975	Dhirendranath Ganguly	Bengali	Actor, Director
1976	Kanan Devi	Bengali	Actress
1977	Nitin Bose	Hindi,Bengali	Cinematographer, Director, Writer
1978	Rai Chand Boral	Hindi,Bengali	Composer, Director
1979	Sohrab Modi	Hindi	Hindi,Marathi
1980	Paidi Jairaj	Hindi,Telugu	Actor, Director
1981	Naushad Ali	Hindi	Composer (Music Director)
1982	L. V. Prasad	Hindi,Telugu,Tamil	Actor, Director, Producer
1983	Durga Khote	Hindi,Marathi	Actress
1984	Satyajit Ray	Bengali	Director
1985	V. Shantaram	Hindi,Marathi	Hindi,Marathi
1986	B. Nagi Reddy	Telugu	Producer
1987	Raj Kapoor	Hindi	Actor, Director
1988	Ashok Kumar	Hindi	Actor
1989	Lata Mangeshkar	Hindi,Marathi	Singer
1990	Akkineni Nageswara Rao	Telugu	Actor
1991	Bhalji Pendharkar	Marathi	Director,Producer,Witer
1992	Bhupen Hazarika	Assamese	Composer (Music Director)
1993	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Hindi	Lyricist
1994	Dilip Kumar	Hindi	Actor
1995	Rajkumar	Kannada	Actor
1996	Sivaji Ganesan	Tamil	Actor
1997	Kavi Pradeep	Hindi	Lyricist
1998	B.R. Chopra	Hindi	Director,Producer
1999	Hrishikesh Mukherjee	Hindi	Director
2000	Asha Bhosle	Hindi,Marathi	Singer
2001	Yash Chopra	Hindi	Director,Producer
2002	Dev Anand	Hindi	Actor, Director, Producer
2003	Mrinal Sen	Bengali	Director
2004	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	Malayalam	Director
2005	Shyam Benegal	Hindi	Director
2006	Tapan Sinha	Bengali,Hindi	Director
2007	Manna Dey	Bengali,Hindi	Singer
2008	VK Murthy	Hindi	Cinematographer
2009	D. Ramanaidu	Telugu	Producer
2010	K. Balachander	Tamil,Telugu	Director
2011	Soumitra Chatterjee	Bengali	Director
2012	Pran	Hindi	Actor
2013	Gulzar	Hindi	Lyricist
2014	Shashi Kapoor	Hindi	Actor
2015	Manoj Kumar	Hindi	Actor