The newly-formed government of Telangana, headed by Hon. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, has decided to honour Gummadi Vittal Rao, aka Gaddar, an Indian poet, singer, and communist revolutionary. As a part of it, Gaddar Jayanti was held at Ravindra Bharati, Hyderabad, on January 31, 2024, to commemorate the late poet. At the event, the Hon. Chief Minister announced that the Government of TS will restart awarding cinema, television, and theatre artists, but with a new title called ‘Gaddar Awards’.
While this move initially received applause, it eventually attracted criticism, with some labelling it a blatant move by the government to gain political mileage among backward castes, particularly dalits. Besides that, a section of the Telugu film fraternity has felt that the government should have simply introduced a new category of awards honouring the legend instead of renaming ‘Nandi Awards’, which were originally named after the big granite bull, Lepakshi, a symbol of the rich Telugu culture.
All in all, the iconic bull in the variants gold (Swarnam), silver (Rajatam), and bronze (Kamsyam) that have represented excellence in Telugu cinema, television, and theatre since 1964 is going to lose its identity. Hope the renamed version adds more value to these awards, encouraging more people to make feature films, television shows, and theatre plays in Telugu with technical finesse and aesthetic values.
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