Shah Rukh Khan gets France's top culture award

A prestigious French honour has put Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan in an illustrious club of actors also inhabited by Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Uma Thurman, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford!

Khan has been chosen for the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of the Arts and Literature) award of the French government for his "exceptional career".

Shah Rukh Khan's name was recommended to the president of France by French ambassador in New Delhi Dominique Girard and it was quickly accepted. "Following a request to the president by the ambassador, it has been decided to confer the most important cultural award of France on Shah Rukh Khan," sources said.

The actor, whose most recent film Don was partially shot in Paris, has also been cited for his recognition of the potential of cooperation between India and France in the field of cinema. The actor will receive the decorative medal at a ceremony sometime this summer.

Khan now has a wax figure at the Madame Tussaud's as well as a French award, like fellow Bollywood giant Amitabh Bachchan. Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is given to citizens of France and also foreign nationals who have made significant contributions to arts and literature and to the development of culture and cultural understanding in France and throughout the world.

Previous winners from India include late Tamil superstar Sivaji Ganesan, film-maker Mrinal Sen and Carnatic musician M Balamurali Krishna. Indian-born author Salman Rushdie and best-selling romance novelist Danielle Steel have also received the award.