Yash
Chopra
was
conferred
the
Zenith
Asia
Honour
for
his
contribution
to
Indian
cinema
at
a
ceremony
at
the
National
Film
Archive
of
India
on
13th
November
2007.
The
honour
is
tied
to
the
Asian
Film
Festival
held
in
Pune
and
was
announced
there
earlier
at
the
Fifth
edition
of
the
Festival.
The
award
was
handed
over
to
him
by
the
president
of
the
Asian
Film
Foundation,
Kiran
V.
Shantaram,
and
convenor
of
the
Fifth
Asian
Film
Festival,
Mohan
Agashe.
The
award
citation
called
him
“Indian
cinema"s
brand
ambassador" and
commended
him
for
his
unique
ability
to
“strike
the
right
balance
between
art
and
commerce."
It
also
highlighted
how
Yash
Raj
Films
had
become
the
nursery
where
emerging
talents
of
Indian
cinema
are
being
nurtured.
Yash
Chopra,
on
his
part,
accepted
the
award
with
his
customary
grace
and
noted
that
even
after
all
these
years
it
was
still
humbling
to
receive
an
award.
He
went
on
to
add
that
the
award
was
not
for
him
alone.
“It
is
also
for
the
technicians,
actors
and
singers
who
have
created
the
track
record
along
with
me," he
said.
In
his
acceptance
speech,
he
spoke
candidly
and
passionately
about
the
state
of
Indian
cinema
and
the
film
industry,
which
was
going
through
a
rather
interesting
phase.
The
past
recipients
of
the
Zenith
Asia
Honour
have
been
actor-director
Aparna
Sen
and
Iranian
director
Majid
Majidi.