Recipients have included:
Dilip Gupta (Director of Photography)[5] was an original cinematographer of many outstanding Bollywood films including Madhumatiand Biraj Bahu.
Kidar Sharma (Writer – Director) was a pioneer in his field, who entered film in 1934 with Seeta as a photographer. He was a writer and director of several noteworthy films, such as Jogan, Chitralekha (1941 film) and Chitralekha (1964 film). Kidar Sharma discovered many stars such as Raj Kapoor.
Suraiya Sheikh (Performing Artist.) Suraiya was one of the tallest singing stars of the early golden years of Indian Hindi cinema of the nineteen forties and fifties. She sang her own songs in her films, which included many successes such as Mirza Ghalib, Dastan and Sharda.
Esther Victoria Abraham aka Pramila (Performing Artist) was the first Miss India. She was a champion of women's causes in films and acted in 1942 in Ulti Ganga, a film in which women were shown superior to men in every aspect.
Manna Dey had a long career in Hindi music industry as a singer who made his mark as a singer.
Vyjayantimala Bali (Performing Artist) was an actress and dancer in Bollywood for 20 years. She started her career with Tamil films, but after three years switched over to Hindi and made a name for herself in films including Madhumati and Sangam. In the middle of her career, she returned to Tamil films for a few years.
Ram Narayan (Classical Musician) is a sarangi player and has brought the musical instrument into focus in the country and world over.
Kamini Kaushal (Performing Artist) entered the Hindi film industry as an actress of note in the late 1940s' and held her own place amongst the top heroines till late fifties. She acted in character roles until recently.
Pran Krishan Sikand or simply Pran (Performing Artist). In a film career starting from the early nineteen forties until late nineties, he acted in all kind of roles, but most notably as a Bollywood villain.