T Subbarami Reddy, Nagarjuna, Chief Minister Y S Rajashekar Reddy, Krishna and Mahesh Babu on the stage of Nandi Awards ceremony

Gallery : Nandi Awards

With impending elections round the corner, Andhra Pradesh state government gave away Nandi Awards for year 2005 and 2006, NTR awards for years 2003, 04, 05 06 at a glittering ceremony. Never did before the awards ceremony conducted such a grand scale. Amidst the speculations that heroes Mahesh Babu and Nagarjuna would support the Congress government on the stage, the awards ceremony created enough curiosity among the public. Although the government used the stage to show off their star power, the stars actually didn’t make any political statements nor did they support the government on public dais.

Nagarjuna who is actively participating in campaign of government schemes also didn’t utter anything that can be termed as political statement. Mahesh Babu’s brief speech was all about movies.

NTR National Awards

NTR National awards were presented to the legendary figures of South Indian Cinema. Superstar Krishna (for year 2003), Maestro Ilayaraja (2004), Kannada actor Ambarish (2005), and actress Waheeda Rehman (2006) were honoured with the NTR National awards.

Veteran producers D Ramanaidu and M.S.Reddy awarded with Raghupathi Venkaiah award for year 2005 and 2006 respectively for their contribution to the growth of Telugu film industry.

Ticket rates hiked

Chie Minister YSR in his speech said that succeeding congress governments in the state helped the Telugu film industry to flourish. “It was in the Congress regime that Telugu Film industry shifted from Madras to Hyderabad. We have been taking several steps for the welfare of film industry,” he said. He also announced the hike in ticket rates pleasing the biggies of film industry. “We are increasing the prices of tickets for higher classes in theaters but keeping the lower tickets at same price,” he announced.

BN Reddy and Nagi Reddy national awards

YSR also announced that the government institute new national awards in the memory of Late BN Reddy and Nagi Reddy. “We will institute BN Reddy and Nagi Reddy National Awards from next year. We have taken this decision on the occasion of BN Reddy's birth centenary.”

The prominent celebrities among the Nandi award winners are Nagarjuna, Mahesh Babu, and Trisha.

Trisha recieving Nandi for best actress award for Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005) from Chief Minister