Sarfaraz Khan On His Dad Late Kader Khan Being Awarded Padma Shri: It’s My Father’s Hard Work

Veteran actor and writer, the late Kader Khan was conferred the Padma Shri posthumously for his contribution to Indian cinema, on the 70th Republic Day.
When the actor passed away on December 31st, 2018, after suffering a prolonged illness, many from the film industry felt that it was a great loss. Celebs from Govinda, Shatrugan Sinha to Shakti Kapoor felt that the great actor was not duly recognized when he was alive.

On being conferred the Padma Shri posthumously Kader Khan's son Sarfaraz Khan told Pinkvilla, "It's my father's hard work, I will accept it." When asked if, he feels the recognition is delayed, Sarfaraz said, "It would have been good him accepting it, but I just want to get it for my father, if God is happy with a person, he still gives respect after the person has left."

In 2016, Kader Khan had spoken about not being recognized by the government for his contributions, in an interview with IANS. He had said, "If the government feels that I have done good work, it will honour me. It's people's love that they are demanding it for me. It's good that I did not get one."

He had also added, "... it's good that they did not give me a Padma Shri. I have neither flattered anyone in my life, nor will I ever. I don't want these awards if they have been given to people (in the industry) who got it this time. An award is a no big thing, but its importance lies in the people it has been conferred upon."

Along with the late Kader Khan, Prabhu Deva, Manoj Bajpayee, and Shankar Mahadevan were also names from the entertainment industry to be bestowed the honour. Malayalam actor Mohanlal was conferred the Padma Bhushan.