Telangana state awards for film personalities will be called Gaddar Awards. An announcement to this effect was made by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Wednesday.
The awards will be instituted to fete artistes, poets and film personalities annually. "The awards will be presented every year on Gaddar’s birth anniversary," a report says.
The awards don't come with the classical ring carried by Nandi Awards. Naming a state award after an ideological balladeer doesn't carry a universal, ideology-agnostic ring.
It is doubtful if Gaddar Awards will be given in the traditional categories such as Best Actor, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, etc. Revanth Reddy said that Nandi Awards have been replaced with Gaddar Awards. However, he didn't specify that they will be a strict equivalent of the Nandi Awards.
Any which way, state awards have long lost their charm once it became clear that they were awarded to those with clout. A sense of randomness crept into the jury's choice.
