New Delhi, June 23 -- Veteran theatre artist and scientist Anil Kumar Rastogi, who is set to receive the Padma Shri in the field of Art from President Droupadi Murmu at the second Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday, described the honour as a unique recognition of his parallel careers in science and performing arts.

Speaking to ANI, Rastogi, who hails from Lucknow, reflected on his journey from being a scientist to becoming a celebrated actor and theatre personality.

"My name is Anil Kumar Rastogi. I'm from Lucknow. Born, raised, educated, first job, theatre, everything is from Lucknow," he said.

He has over 1000 theatre performances and was a former scientist of the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Luckn...