I deserve more than a Padma Shri - Salim Khan

Says Salim Khan, who turned down the award asserting that he will not accept a lesser award than his erstwhile partner Javed Akhtar who has received both the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan.

The Padma Awards have stirred up yet another controversy with Salim Khan refusing to accept the Padma Shri bestowed on him. "Refused is too harsh a word since I have nothing against the awards," says Salim. "I just think that after 55 years and over 40 films, I deserve more than a Padma Shri for my contributions to Hindi cinema, given that my juniors have already got it years before. Even my earstwhile partner, Javed Akhtar, has received both a Padma Shri and a Padma Bhushan."

Salim who with Javed scripted blockbusters like Andaz, Haathi Mere Saathi, Seeta Aur Geeta, Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay, Trishul, Don, Kranti and Mr India, Naam and Kabzaa among others after their split, points out that this has nothing to do with the ruling government or Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Modi saab and I share a relationship of mutual respect that goes back to before he became a PM and is beyond all this. The people who choose the recipients should have spent a little more time discussing what I deserve after all these years," he says. "In the past, like Shankar-Jaikishen, Salim-Javed as a team has bagged six Filmfare awards for the work we did together. But when the Padam Shri and Padma Bhushan were given to Javed, no one remembered that for 22 years we worked together."

Will he change his mind if the award is elevated to a Padma Bhushan? Salim is categorical that it would be wrong on his part to accept a Padma Bhushan now.

"It would set a wrong precedent," he reasons. "Awards are a good incentive for young people as recognition and appreciation for their work. But for me, the excitement has long ebbed. I have never craved awards. When I accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award recently, it was because Mukesh Bhatt requested me and having worked with his father and his brother, Mahesh Bhatt, in films like Naam and Kabzaa, I couldn't say 'no'. Even this award came my way without any lobbying on my part. But I wish I had got what I deserved."