India, June 26 -- A Padma Shri for 83-year-old scientist-actor Anil Rastogi in the field of art means the world. "I had never imagined this as it's truly a very big honour. Before me, from Lucknow, late Raj Bisaria saheb had got this award in the theatre field (in 1991) and he was my guru," says the veteran actor.

He tells HT City, "Getting it from the President of India (Droupadi Murmu) in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah (home minister), other dignitaries and my wife Sudha Rastogi (ex-teacher) in the audience filled me with pride."

A scientist and an actor, he has excelled in both fields. "I have worked in the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), which is a lab of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)...