New Delhi: As the focus of the Padma Awards, announced on Wednesday, remained on real life heroes and talent from the classical music and dance world, Bollywood celebrities largely remained ignored in the list of 89 awardees for the year. Hours before the official announcement was made by the government, congratulatory messages for actor Manoj Bajpayee on being named for a Padma Shri honour started doing the rounds on social media. But his name featured nowhere in the final list.

According to a news report by a daily, veteran actors Asha Parekh and Rishi Kapoor, singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan, singers Sonu Nigam and Kailash Kher, apart from Manoj, were a part of a shortlist by the government for the Padma awardees.