HYDERABAD: Traffic was unusually congested on Sunday evening as all roads in Hitec City led towards Shilpakala Vedika, where the TSR National Awards 2013-14 was organised.
A starry affair with plenty of glitz and glamour on show, the awards function hosted by industrialist T Subbarami Reddy had cine fans jostling to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars. Veteran actors Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Mohan Babu and Jayasudha besides Baahubali star Tamannaah, actresses Lakshmi Manchu and Rakul Preet Singh were among those who attended the event.
The event also had a strong Bollywood presence in the form of actress Shilpa Shetty, veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, popular baddie Gulshan Grover, Shatrugan Sinha, Shakti Kapoor and Shabana Azmi.
There were sizzling performances from Charrmee, Shraddha Das, Rakul Preet Singh and Manala Chopra as fans patiently waited for the event to start. For 2013, Mahesh Babu was awarded the best actor for his performance in Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu while actor Ram Charan was adjudged the ‘Best Hero’ for Naayak.
Tamannaah walked away with the honours of the Best Actress, while Samantha won the award for the Best Heroine for Attarintiki Daredi. For 2014, Balakrishna won the Best Actor award for his roaring box-office success Legend, while Allu Arjun won the Best Hero Award for Race Gurram.
Among the women, Shriya Saran was awarded the Best Actress and Rakul Preet the Best Heroine for the year 2014. There were also special jury awards for actors Venkatesh and Nagarjuna for their performances in Manam and Drishyam respectively.
Mohan Babu was awarded the Silver Screen Outstanding Award, while Jayasudha along with Paruchuri Brothers, were given the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The jury included actors Jamuna, Suman, Jaya Prada, director Kodandarami Reddy, actor-producer Jeevitha, Pinky Reddy and Sangeeta Reddy.
Security trouble
The high-profile awards night turned out to be a security nightmare as hundreds of fans attempted to gatecrash the event. For those who arrived on time, there was no way out after entering as all exits were sealed. When a visitor tried to exit the arena, she was stopped by the security, who claimed that if they opened the gates, hundreds of people would barge in and the situation would spiral out of control.