Veteran lyricist Valee was presented the coveted Padmashree award by the President of India Dr A P J Abdul Kalam in New Delhi on Friday.
At a grand function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Valee was presented with the rare honor by Kalam.
A veteran, who has been working with three generations of music directors, Valee is a sought-after name in Tamil film industry. He has opened over thousands of songs besides poems and novels.
He also took to acting and playing a cameo in Kamal Hassan's Hey Ram.