The Center presented the Padma Awards 2025 on the eve of Republic Day, awarding the highest civilian honor to 139 individuals, including 113 Padma Shri, 19 Padma Bhushan, and seven Padma Vibhushan. Sonu Nigam, a national award winner, confronts the panel for passing up a number of well-known artists this year just hours after the Padma Awards 2025 were announced. It is noteworthy that Arijit Singh will receive Padma Shri, while Sharda Sinha, also known as Swar Kokila of Bihar, will be honored posthumously with Padma Vibhushan.
‘India and it’s pending Padma Awardees,’ Sonu commented with a video he posted on Instagram. In the video, he said that the two singers have inspired the whole world, one of them was limited to only Padma Shri award- Mohammad Rafi Sahab and the other did not even get the Padma Shri- Kishore Kumar ji. “Nowadays awards are being given posthumously, but even among the living people there are personalities like Alka Yagnik, who have had such a long and unprecedented career, yet they did not get the same respect. Shreya Ghoshal, who has been making her art recognised for such a long time, also deserves respect. Sunidhi Chauhan, who has inspired an entire generation with her unique voice, has also not got anything yet,” the singer said in the video.
These awards, which fall into three categories—Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri—are also referred to as the highest civilian honor. The Prime Minister appoints the Padma Awards Committee each year, and it makes recommendations that determine which recipients receive Padma awards. The Home Secretary, the Secretary to the President, and four to six distinguished individuals are members of the Padma Awards Committee, which is led by the Cabinet Secretary. The committee’s recommendations are forwarded to India’s president and prime minister for approval.
About Sonu Nigam’s career, ‘Modern Rafi’ is another name for him. In 2022, he received the Padma Shri. Apart from Hindi and Kannada, he has sung songs in Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Odia, English, Assamese, Malayalam, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Tulu, Maithili and Manipuri. Sonu Nigam started his career with the song Hum To Chhaila Ban Gaye from the TV serial Talaash (1992) and gave hit tracks like Main Hoon Na, Mere Haath Mein, Main Agar Kahun, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Jaane Nahi Denge Tujhe and Abhi Mujhme Kahin among other hit tracks. The singer has won one National Award, two Filmfare Awards and two Filmfare Awards South and four IIFA Awards as the Best Playback singer.
