Shahid and Katrina are on cloud nine after their critical releases, Kaminey & New York respectively. Both movies did great at the box office giving Bollywood one of its recognized films and proving the duo's astonishing acting skills. Well adding to the fame, Shahid and Katrina both received the 12th annual Rajiv Gandhi National Award on August 19th, 2009. The event took place at the National Centre for Performing Arts located in Mumbai itself.

In the past, many of Bollywood's acknowledged stars have performed at the Rajiv Gandhi National Award. Some names include Salman Khan, Rakhi Sawant, Anupum Kher, Vivek Oberoi, musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan and many more. Furthermore, this year Hrithik Roshan, Shreyas Talpade, Esha Deol, Priyanka Chopra, Hussain Kuwajerwala and Vishal-Shekhar performed at the gala.