NEW DELHI: Actor Amitabh Bachchan received the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second highest civilian honor, from President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Wednesday. Bachchan's son and daughter, Abhishek and Shweta, and daughter-in-law Aishwarya attended the ceremony.

Before the ceremony began, senior ministers like Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad greeted the 72-year-old actor. As he received his award from the president, Bachchan was applauded by an audience that included Union Ministers, top civil and defense officials and the families of 50 prominent personalities who were given their Padma awards on Wednesday.

The Bachchans were mobbed at the customary tea party hosted by the president. However, the Rashtrapati Bhavan guards helped keep the crowd and journalists at bay.

Bachchan, star of film such as 'Sholay', 'Deewar', 'Don', 'Amar Akbar Anthony', 'Black' and 'Paa', received the Padma Shri in 1984 and the Padma Bhushan in 2001. He was last seen in this year's 'Shamitabh' and also stars in the upcoming films 'Piku' and 'Wazir'.

On Tuesday, Bachchan tweeted about attending rehearsals for the award ceremony.