Veteran West Bengal actor Soumitra Chatterjee was conferred with the highest civilian award of France, the Légion d'Honneur on Tuesday (January 30). The ceremony took place at a hotel in New Town, Kolkata, where the French Ambassador to India, Alexandre Ziegler presented the insignia of Knight of the Legion of Honour (Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur).

Overwhelmed, Soumitra Chatterjee stated, “My relationship with France goes back many years, and they have presented me with many honours over the years. My attachment to France, its arts and literature is extremely close, and I cannot describe the honour I am feeling today.”

French Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler thanked the veteran actor for his valuable and irreplaceable contributions in film, saying it was their pride to bestow upon him such an honour.

Meanwhile, Kolkata is buzzing with the excitement of their annual book fair, which was inaugurated on Tuesday evening. The book fair's country theme this year is France, and Chatterjee attended the opening day as chief guest. CSC conferred an honour to the actor at the event regarding which he said, “I always look forward to the book fair excitedly. I have many fond memories of collecting many volumes from here over the years.”