Noted producer-director Kiran Shantaram gave the award to Manoj Kumar at a city hall last night, on the concluding day of the film festival.
Manoj Kumar, known for his superhit films famous for their patriotic flavour - like 'Upkar', 'Purab aur Paschim', 'Shor' and 'Kranti', received the award consisting of Rs one lakh cash, a memento and a citation.
While accepting the award, Kumar expressed concern over the degrading quality of Hindi cinema in recent times.
The father of the Indian cinema, late Dadasaheb Phalke, had produced films in Nashik but history experts have not given due importance to the city, he said.
A fashion show was also organised at the festival yesterday in the memory of superstar late Rajesh Khanna.