VIJAYAWADA: First time after the bifurcation of the State, the Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday announced Nandi film awards for 2012 and 2013.
Nandi awards, the state government recognition for excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television presented annually since 1964, have not been announced since 2012 when the Telangana agitation was at its peak, resulted in the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
However, the awards for 2012 and 2013 will be distributed only after deciding the film awards for 2014 and 2015 as the state government is planing to organise a grant event to honour all the winners on a single stage.
When the jury members for 2012 and 2013 called on Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at his office on Wednesday before making the announcement, Naidu suggested the elders of the film fraternity to embark on the process of selecting Nandi award winners for 2014 and 2015 first and organise a single event on a grand note to honour the winners.
Veteran actress Jayasudha and director Kodi Ramakrishna, heads of ethe the juries for 2012 and 13 respectively, said that 'Eega’, directed by S S Rajamouli bagged the Golden Nandi Award for 2012 while 'Mirchi' directed by Koratala Siva bagged the prestigious award for 2013.
It is learnt that the Telangana government has decided to present the awards with a different name, on the occasion of Ugadi, from this year.