Film awards not just formalities, they deserve respect: Dil Raju

The inaugural Gaddar Telangana Film Awards, held in Hyderabad on Saturday, marked the first official film honours instituted by the state government since Telangana’s formation in 2014.

The event recognised outstanding contributions to Telugu cinema — both creative and technical — across categories, for the period spanning June 2014 to December 2024.While the event saw participation from various members of the Telugu film industry, several awardees, including Dulquer Salman, Shreya Ghoshal, Prashanth Reddy and Rajesh Kallepalli, were conspicuously absent. Their absence did not go unnoticed, with Film Development Corporation Chairman Dil Raju expressing disappointment during a media interaction following the event.“We organised the Telangana Gaddar Awards ceremony as a big event, after months of hard work, and made it a success. The CM (Revanth Reddy) had initially planned to stay just for an hour. However, as per my request, he stayed for more than two and a half hours and presented awards to everyone,” Raju said.He added, “If you are being honoured with an award by the government, it becomes your responsibility to receive it with the respect it deserves.” He also noted that even a busy shooting schedule should not be an excuse and urged artistes and technicians to prioritise suchoccasions and treat them with due importance. TNN