The entire film industry from Rajnikant to Kamal Hassan to our artistes like Aamir Khan, Kamal Haasan, Yash Chopra, Mamooty, Rakesh Roshan, Subhash Ghai, Chiranjeevi, Ramesh Sippy, and Mukesh Bhatt among many others have endorsed a petition appealing that the Bharat Ratna be conferred on legend Dilip Kumar. The initiative has been started by Mahesh Bhatt. Said Bhatt in a statement, "Dilip Kumar, the icon is as old as the Indian film industry. He is the symbol of secular India and has an unmatched career record spanning from pre-independence years till the last decade."