The late renowned Indian cartoonist R.K. Laxman’s family has announced a grand tribute to honor his extraordinary legacy by establishing the inaugural R.K. Laxman Award for Excellence. To commemorate the event, there will be a live concert by Oscar-winning music legend A.R. Rahman on November 23, 2025, at MCA Cricket Stadium in Pune. The event will commence at 5 PM onwards, giving an evening of music, art, and fond remembrance.
In conversation with IANS, Usha Laxman, the daughter-in-law of the deceased cartoonist, explained the details of the event. “The R.K. Laxman family has planned an A.R. Rahman live music concert on Sunday, 23rd November 2025, at the MCA Cricket Stadium. At the event, we will be honoring R.K. Laxman by presenting the first-ever R.K. Laxman Award for Excellence,” she told.
The elite accolade will be awarded to none other than Bollywood icon Aamir Khan, affectionately referred to as “Mr.”. Perfectionist.” Declaring his name, Usha Laxman declared, “The award winner will be Aamir Khan, and this will be the greatest tribute we, as a family, are paying to Laxman.” The choice of Aamir, who is dedicated to serious cinema and storytelling, is a reflection of the spirit of excellence and imagination that characterized R.K. Laxman’s life and work.
R.K. Laxman, a world-renowned cartoonist and illustrator of India, is remembered most for inventing ‘The Common Man’, the representation of the Indian middle class and the man who faced every struggle they did. His daily cartoon series, ‘You Said It’, which ran in The Times of India, took the pulse of Indian society with humor, sarcasm, and compassion.
Apart from his work in newspapers, Laxman also created the sketches for popular TV serial “Malgudi Days”, based on the short stories penned by his older brother, R.K. Narayan, and directed by Shankar Nag. His creative brilliance and incisive social commentary turned him into a name known to all in households cutting across generations.
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R.K. Laxman died in 2015 at the age of 93 in Pune’s Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital. Throughout his illustrious career, he was felicitated with many awards, including the Padma Bhushan (1973), the Padma Vibhushan (2005), and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Mysore in 2004.
The tribute concert that is to follow will be a proper befit to his ageless achievements — combining the genius of A.R. Rahman’s compositions with the eternally classic touch of R.K. Laxman’s cartoons.
