Kajol has spoken about how she is coping after the loss of her father Shomu Mukherjee and how her family are helping her.

Talking to an Indian daily, the actress said, “I am coping quite well. The best way to deal with death is to immerse yourself in work. Also, my daughter and husband need me to be around. My father had been suffering for a long time. I think it was more a freedom from the pain he was undergoing, than anything else.”

Talking further on how she is handling the death, Kajol reveals, “I do a lot of mindless reading. Give me Mills & Boon or a mushy pulp fiction novel and I’ll be happy.”

It has been reported in the Indian media that popular Bollywood actress Vidya Balan made a mockery of herself at a party in London last week.

The actress is rumoured to have got drunk and then insulted fellow party goers. One has to keep in mind that Vidya is not usually like this and, because of the excessive drinking, could have lost her senses.Vidya will soon be seen on-screen opposite hot actor Shahid Kapur in Kismet Konnection.

It was a moment of glory for Bollywood diva Madhuri Dixit as she received the prestigious Padma Shri award today (May 10) from President Pratibha Patil for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.

The actor who is in the country with her husband Dr. Shriram Nene especially to receive the award is exceedingly happy with this recognition.

“It is a great honour. I am elated,” said Padma Shri Madhuri Dixit.

Noted industrialist Ratan Tata, NRI steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, Metroman E Sreedharan and chess wizard Viswanathan Anand were also among the recipients of the Padma awards.

Former bureaucrat PN Dhar, former Chief Justice of India AS Anand and Nobel-prize winning environmentalist RK Pachauri also received the prestigious Padma Vibhushan at a glittering function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Adding glamour to the event were Hollywood director Manoj Night Shyamalan, Punjabi folk singer Hans Raj Hans, versatile actor Tom Alter and footballer Baichung Bhutia, who received Padma Shri awards.

Melody queen P Susheela and noted economists Lord Meghnad Desai, Kaushik Basu and Padma Desai also received the Padma Bhushan award.

The best round of applause was reserved for Tata, who was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, Bhutia, Shyamalan and Dixit, who received the Padma Shri.

Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams did not turn up to receive the Padam Bhushan while respected Russian diplomat Yuli Mikhailovich Vorontsov’s daughter received the award conferred on him posthumously.

Ignoring the clamour for Bharat Ratna triggered by BJP leader LK Advani’s letter to the Prime Minister proposing Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s name, the government decided against naming anyone for the award for the seventh consecutive year this time.

Bharat Ratna was last given in 2001 to Lata Mangeshkar and Ustad Bismillah Khan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and several union ministers attended the function.

Among the Padma Bhushan recipients were veena exponent Ustad Asad Ali Khan, industrialist Baba Neelkanth Kalyani, tribal leader Mian Bashir Ahmed, Inderjit Kaur, Jasdev Singh, Kantipudi Padmanabhaiah, Nirmal Kumar Ganguly, Suresh Kumar Neotia, Sushil Kumar Saxena, Viswanathan Ramachandran and Ravindra Kelekar.

Those who received Padma Shri included Aheibam Jayant Kumar Singh, Amitabh Mattoo, Barkha Dutt, Bholabhai Patel, Cannigaiper Uthamaroyan Velmurugendran, Pandit Gokulotsav Maharaj, Heisnam Sabitri, Indu Bushan Sinha, Jawahar Wattal, KS Nishar Ahmed and Kaleem Ullah Khan.

French national Colette Mathur and Russian theatre personality Gennadi Mikhailovich Pechnikov also received the honour.

Karuna Mary Braganza, Kasturi Lal Chopra, Kekoo M Gandhy, Kutikuppala Surya Rao, Madan Mohan Sabharwal, Mohan Chandra Pant, Moozhikkulam Kochukuttan Chakkyar, Rakesh Kumar Jain, Sant Singh Virmani, Sheela Barthakur, Sirkazhi G Siva Chidambaram, Surjya Kanta Hazarika, Vellur Ramachandra Gowrishankar, Yella Venkateswara Rao, Mohammed Yusuf Taing also received the Padma Shri.