Who was awarded the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2014 in Indian cinema?

Introduction / Context:
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest honour in the field of cinema and is frequently tested in examinations. Each year, one film personality is selected for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. This question focuses on the year 2014 and asks who received this prestigious award. The correct answer is Shashi Kapoor, the veteran actor and producer known for his extensive work in Hindi films and for promoting theatre through Prithvi Theatre.

Given Data / Assumptions:
- The award is the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. - The year of reference is 2014. - The options list eminent personalities from Indian cinema such as Pran, Shashi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, and Gulzar. - Only one of them was selected for the award in 2014.

Concept / Approach:
To answer correctly, aspirants need to match the award year with the recipient. The Government of India announced in 2015 that Shashi Kapoor would receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2014. Other listed personalities are also recipients, but in different years. For example, Pran received the award for 2012, Gulzar for 2013, and Amitabh Bachchan later for 2018. Recognising this sequence helps in isolating Shashi Kapoor as the film personality corresponding to the year 2014.

Step-by-Step Solution:
1. Recall that the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony. 2. Remember that Pran was honoured for 2012 and Gulzar for 2013. 3. Note that Shashi Kapoor was announced as the recipient of the award for the year 2014 and received it in a ceremony held in 2015. 4. Recognise that Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan were honoured in different years, not 2014. 5. Based on this timeline, select Shashi Kapoor as the correct answer.

Verification / Alternative check:
A simple verification method is to recall news headlines from March 2015, when the government announced that Shashi Kapoor would receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2014. Many exam oriented general knowledge sources also present a list of recipients by year, showing Pran 2012, Gulzar 2013, Shashi Kapoor 2014, and Manoj Kumar 2015. If candidates mentally recreate this list, they will see that the only correct match for 2014 is Shashi Kapoor, thus confirming the answer and eliminating any doubt between the given options.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Pran, the legendary actor, received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2012, not for 2014. Dilip Kumar was honoured with the award in 1994 and therefore does not match the year specified in the question. Amitabh Bachchan, another legendary actor, received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award much later for the year 2018. Gulzar, the poet, lyricist, and director, was selected as the recipient for the year 2013, placing him one year before Shashi Kapoor in the sequence.

Common Pitfalls:
Because all the names listed are major figures in Indian cinema and all have received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award at different times, candidates often confuse the exact year of each recipient. Some may simply choose the most familiar name, such as Amitabh Bachchan, instead of focusing on the year. Another issue is mixing up announcement and presentation years. The key is to study a chronological list of recipients and link each name with one or two anchor facts, such as a memorable film or a newspaper headline, to fix that year firmly in mind.

Final Answer:
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2014 was conferred on veteran actor Shashi Kapoor.