9 people from West Bengal get Padma Shri

Kolkata: Nine people from West Bengal were recognised with Padma Shri on Saturday.

Among them were singer Arijit Singh, actor Mamata Shankar, drummer Gokul Chandra Das, educationist Nagendra Nath Roy, industrialists Pawan Goenka and Sajjan Bhajanka, Swami Pradiptananda (Kartik Maharaj), sarod artiste Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, and social worker Vinayak Lohani.

Speaking to PTI, Shankar said, "I am so happy to get the news and the feeling is yet to sink in. I am thankful to everyone -- my audience, my directors, my co-actors, my family, my dancing school students, everyone who came into my life." "I will also thank even those who don't like me for motivating me to do better and be a better human being," she added.

Shankar has acted in over 50 films, including Dooratwa (1978), Ek Din Pratidin (1979), Kharij (1982), Grihajuddha (1982), Shakha Prosakha (1991), Agantuk (1991) and Prajapati (2023).

"I remember Mrinal da (Mrinal Sen), Manik da (Satyajit Ray), and Buddhadeb Dasgupta for guiding me in the early years of my career," she said.