Indian movie star Amitabh Bachchan has been awarded France's highest civilian honor, news reports said Sunday.

French Ambassador Dominique Girard presented the Legion d'Honneur to Bachchan on Saturday evening at the embassy in New Delhi for his contribution to Indian and international cultural life, The Times of India reported.

"It's not a personal achievement but that of Indian cinema," Bachchan said. "The award also indicates that India has arrived forcefully on the global scene."

The actor recently lent his voice to the Oscar-winning French documentary, March of the Penguins, to be released in India in April.

He was accompanied Saturday by his wife Jaya and son Abhishek, also popular movie actors, and Abhishek's fiancee actress Aishwarya Rai.

Bachchan, 64, known affectionately as the "Big B," first emerged as a movie star in the 1970s. He has since acted in about 160 movies.