Like every year, quite a few names from Bollywood have been included in the country's top honours. Amidst awardees from other streams, actor Amitabh Bachchan, thespian Dilip Kumar, superstar Rajinikanth, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, music composer Prasoon Joshi and filmmaker Salim Khan will be conferred with Padma Shree on Republic Day 2015.

According to a report in The Indian Expresss , the recipients include A Kanyakumari (Carnatic violinist), Girija Devi (Hindustani vocalist), L Subramaniam (musician), Malini Awasthi (folk singer), Smriti Biswas (actor), Sudha Raghunathan (Carnatic vocalist), music directors Anu Malik and Ravindra Jain and Assamese film director Jahnu Barua in the feild of art and culture.

Padma awards, given since 1954 on Republic Day in honour of contributions in wide-ranging pursuits, have often been subject of controversy due to the arbitrary nature of the selection process and inevitable charges of favouritism by the government and the ruling party. They are given in three categories — Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, in ascending order of distinction. It's unclear which names have been picked for which awards.