Malayalam superstar Mohanlal on Sunday said he was left speechless by the call from the PMO informing him about the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, adding that he would accept it with a “deep sense of humility and gratitude”.

Mohanlal, the second Malayalam film personality to win the recognition after director Adoor Gopalakrishnan, will receive the award from the President in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Dedicating the award to the Malayalam film industry, Mohanlal recalled the moment he got the call from the PMO. “I thought it was a wild dream. I even asked them to repeat it. The Malayalam film industry is like God to me and cinema is like magic," he told reporters in Kochi.

Mohanlal recently helped the Malayalam film industry, reeling from a series of flops, stage a turnaround by delivering back-to-back blockbusters such as L2: Empuraan, Thudarum and Hridyapoorvam.

Likening the unpredictability of the film industry to a “circus”, the actor, who has completed 48 years in films, credited the audience for making him who he is today. "I remember everyone who walked with me and send my love and prayers to them on this occasion."