Mumbai, Apr 25 (India Today): Actor Aamir Khan, who is known to give award functions a miss for the past 15 years (he last attended the Oscars where his production Lagaan was nominated in the Foreign Film category), made an exception on Monday evening when he was honoured at the 75th Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award.

In the presence of the legendary songstress Lata Mangeshkar, Aamir Khan was presented the prestigious Vishesh Puraskar for his film Dangal, by Mohan Madhukar Bhagwat, the current Chief, of the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

"It's a huge respect that we've got, Nitesh Tewari - the director of Dangal and me", said Aamir at the ceremony, in Mumbai.

"I want to thank Lata Didi, the Dinanath trust, and their entire family, for bestowing us and our film with this honour. A film starts with a writer, and the respect that we've got across the nation is all thanks to Nitesh's hardwork. I have achieved success and immense love from all my fans, thanks to those writers and directors who've written and made my films. I accept this on behalf of my whole team," he added.

Apart from Aamir, Kapil Dev was honoured for his outstanding contribution to Indian cricket and yesteryear actress Vyjayanthimala Bali, was conferred with the Master Deenanath Vishesh Puraskar for her achievements in Indian cinema.

The Master Deenananth Mangeshkar Awards are held in memory of Lata Mangeshkar's father - a well-known Marathi theatre actor, a renowned Natya Sangeet musician and a Hindustani classical vocalist.