Leeds University conferred doctorates on Shabana Azmi, Yash Chopra and Amitabh Bachchan.

Fun was had with Salman Khan as the actor was in a great mood at the music launch of his film Marigold which was followed by the lavish awards ceremony in Sheffield.

The venue was completely packed with thousands of Bollywood fans cheering for every star that they saw. Lara Dutta and Boman Irani were the comperes and there were certainly some breathtaking performances, some felt especially by Shilpa Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan.

However, the highlight of the show came when Dharmendra was given the Lifetime Award by Amitabh Bachchan. "I was a small town boy in Phagwara and I used to look at this magical world of cinema and wonder if I would ever be a part of it. From those days to this stage, it has been a very eventful journey," Dharamendra said.

Following his emotional speech, he called both of his sons, Sunny and Bobby on the stage and then all three Deol men cried together, as Bobby mumbled, "My papa's the best!"

A very touching moment that brought a tear to the eye of the audience.

The popular Jai-Veeru duo of the blockbuster film Sholay came together as Amitabh Bachchan recounted his long association with Dharmedra and presented the award for Outstanding Contribution to the Film Industry.

Bachchan then went on to disclose a secret.

"Had it not been for Dharmendra, I would never have worked in Sholay. He recommended me. He insisted to (director) Ramesh Sippy to cast me in the role of Jai. I am very grateful to Dharmedra for this".

The thousands of fans gathered in the Sheffield FM Arena gave a standing ovation as Dharmedra came on to the stage to receive the award from Bachchan.

Dharmendra, visibly moved by the accolade and the standing ovation, paid tributes to his fans, and emotionally recollected his association with Bachchan, who earlier had regretted that "we live about 50 feet away from each other in Mumbai, but we never meet. We had to come all the way to Yorkshire to meet".

"While shooting for Sholay, I remember Amitabh as an extremely introvert, painfully introvert, kind of a person. I tried to open him up by cracking jokes. He did open up later but not to the extent that I wanted.

"He is my neighbour in Mumbai and I wish I could just go across and pick up a bottle of liquor from his house."

Dharmendra endeared himself to the large gathering comprising mainly Asians from Yorkshire and all over the UK when he said in an emotionally charged voice that India was his mother, but that he also held what he called his 'mausi' (mother's sister), Pakistan, close to his heart.

"I get emotional when I talk of Pakistan. I am everyone's", he said.