The award was instituted in the year 1962. The first recipient of the award was Devika Rani, who was honoured at the 17th National Film Awards ceremony. Actor Prithviraj Kapoor was the first recipient to be awarded posthumously. His son, actor Raj Kapoor, received the award in his father's place at the 19th National Film Awards ceremony. The great actor of Tamil cinema, world famous Sivaji Ganesan was awarded with Dadasaheb Phalke Award in the year 1992 on the 44th National Film Awards ceremony. Raj Kapoor received the award in 1987 and Shashi Kapoor, his brother, received the award in 2014.