Madhuri — most inspirational female Bollywood icon

The 46-year-old actor was bestowed this title at the third annual Bradford Inspirational Women Awards (BIWA) in UK.

Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit has been named the most inspirational female Bollywood icon. She is the first person to receive the honour, which was instituted last year.

Last year, as the world celebrated 100 years of Bollywood cinema, a special category was made for the public to nominate their most Inspirational Female Bollywood Icon.

The 46-year-old Dil Toh Pagal Hai actor was bestowed this title at the third annual Bradford Inspirational Women Awards (BIWA) in UK. “Greetings everyone, I wanted to reach out and thank the Inspirational Women’s Foundation for choosing me as the Most Inspirational Female Bollywood Icon of all times. It’s indeed a great honour,” said Dixit, in a video message played at the award ceremony.

“I’ve been a staunch advocate of women empowerment and I’ve worked hard throughout my career to advance the cause. It is heartening to see that gender equality is really becoming more of a reality. There is still much more to be done and I’m confident that by working together, we can empower women worldwide. I would personally like to thank Fatima Patel, Jane Vincent and the Inspirational Women’s Foundation for making this possible. Thank you,” she added, reported bollywood.com

The unacknowledged female heroes of Bradford were also honoured for their contributions and achievements across public and home life at the coveted award ceremony.

Every year a new category is introduced at the ceremony, this year’s new category was Inspirational Woman in Public Services. In addition, two special awards were presented to the founders of the Inspirational Woman Foundation, a non-profit organisation established to support women, be it at home, at their workplace or in their community or in business.

An independent panel of judges comprising Adeeba Malik MBE; Deputy Chief Executive of Bradford-based charity, QED; David Ward MP, Bradford East; and Susan Jones, HR Director, Freeman Grattan Holdings selected the category winners. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2014.

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