In an era when the small screen was the shortest cut and easiest mean of a film star to grow closer to their fans across the country, we saw several actors making their foray into TV shows. Each one of them was seen in entertaining shows – be it competitions, contests, or reality shows. But the one star who took his own time to make his presence felt on the small screen was Bollywood actor Aamir Khan. This superstar was sure of one thing – that the show he will do on TV, would have a purpose – a purpose that is pan India, a purpose that will help the country and its citizens, a show that will be different! And achieve his aim, he did!!! And to felicitate his achievement, the superstar along with Star India CEO Uday Shankar, was honoured for creating awareness against social discrimination through their issue-based reality show "Satyamev Jayate". They both were conferred the honour by National Commission for Scheduled Castes at a function here.
The actor, who does not believe in attending film awards, says this award is special. "I feel very special today. I am humbled with the kind of love, respect and support that you people have given to me. This honour is not just for me, but also for my team who worked so hard on the show that we were able to understand it and present it to all of you," Aamir said at the ceremony.
Aamir, through his show, had touched upon the issue of social discrimination and manual scavenging in one of the episodes of "Satyamev Jayate". He had focused on the life of over 300,000 manual scavengers, who clean excreta even today and are considered as untouchables in the society.
"When we decided to start 'Satyamev Jayate', we thought of bringing up issues which people usually don't talk about on public platforms. I felt bad to know that even after 65 years of independence, social discrimination is still prevalent. I felt so bad that I decided that I have to raise this issue in my show," he said.
"People told me that this is a very sensitive issue and I can get caught in court cases, but I was adamant on bringing it on the show. I was really happy to see the response from people. I got so many emails and letters, especially from the younger generation, who said they felt bad about the current scenario and that they would work towards welfare (of society)," he added.
Shankar says he is also humbled by the honour.
"I'm really thankful to people for this honour. Television is always considered to be a medium of entertainment, but we knew it was much more than that, it can also help create awareness, which we tried to do with the help of 'Satyamev Jayate'. I thank everyone for giving us the courage to take it forward," Shankar said.
Popular singer Udit Narayan was also present at the ceremony, where Aamir's popular songs like "Papa kahte hain" and "Mitwa" were played. Aamir also joined him in singing the songs.
The ceremony also saw the presence of several political leaders, including union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja besides Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit.