She is now Dr Hema Malini. It was a proud moment for the Dream Girl when on Thursday she received her honorary doctorate at the Singhania University in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

What made it specially distinguished is the fact that the other recipient of the honorary degree was E. Sreedharan, the ‘Metro Man’, the brain behind the Delhi, Kolkata and other metro services.

Says Hema appreciatively, “Now that’s an achiever! What have I done? Mr Sreedharan has revolutionized connectivity and travel. That is what I’d call a real mover and shaker. I’d say my contribution to society is relatively negligible. But I was only too happy to be standing there on the same platform as Mr Sreedharan.”

Both were given an honorary degree for doctorate in philosophy.

“They were very nice. It feels good to be honoured along with someone so distinguished. I think we people of the entertainment industry are now being taken more seriously. We are not considered no-brainers any more,” says Hema.