Govt announces NTR awards for 2003, 2004, 2005
Hyderabad, Aug 30 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh government today announced NTR awards for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, after a long gap.
Actor Krishna was named for the award for 2004, while music Director Ilayaraja and actor Ambarish were named for the years 2005 and 2006, respectively.
The awards carrying a cash prize of Rs five lakh and a silver memento worth Rs one lakh, was announced by Information and Public Relations Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy. The awards would be presented in November this year, along with Nandi Awards for 2006-2007, he said.
He said a committee constituted for the purpose had selected the three film personalities, and Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had cleared the recommendations.
Meawhile, when the Congress came to power in the state in 2004, TDP wanted to stop giving the award, which was constituted by them.
TDP President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had alleged that the award was intentionally stopped.
Later, family members of late N T Rama Rao announced that as the government was not giving the awards, they themselves would give it.
The NTR film award was instituted in 1996 in the memory of late N T Rama Rao, the doyen of the film industry, who later became the Chief Minister of the state.
UNI