Nandi Awards

The Nandi Awards (Telugu: నంది పురస్కారాలు) is the highest award ceremony for excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu Theater, Telugu Television, and Life time achievements in Indian cinema, presented annually by Government's of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. "Nandi" means "bull", the awards being named after the big granite bull at Lepakshi — a cultural and historical symbol of Telugus. Nandi Awards are presented in four categories: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Copper. A variant, Nandi Natakotsavam Awards for Theater is also given every year by the government for social, mythological and poetic dramas.

Annually, a state panel appointed by the government selects the winning entry, and the award ceremony is held in Hyderabad, where in the Chief Minister gives away the awards. A list of rules is presented every year in a document of regulations. The criteria for eligibility contains many clauses. Among them, there is a direct requirement for the makers of a film, and particularly films entering the competition should be produced in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and in case of co-production involving a foreign entity, there are as many conditions which should be fulfilled in order for the film to qualify.

Best Actor

Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actor award was awarded for acting in a film, on May 16, 1929 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) at the Academy Awards to Emil Jannings for his role of Grand Duke Sergius Alexander in The Last Command and August Schilling in The Way of All Flesh. In theatre, it was first awarded on April 6, 1947 by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at the Tony Awards to José Ferrer for his role of Cyrano de Bergerac in Cyrano de Bergerac and to Fredric March for his role of Clinton Jones in Years Ago. In television, it was first awarded on January 23, 1951 by Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the Primetime Emmy Awards to Alan Young for his role of himself in The Alan Young Show. In a film festival, presented as the Volpi Cup, it was first awarded between August 1–20, 1934 by the Venice Film Festival to Wallace Beery for his role of Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!.

Nandi

Nandi may refer to:

Award

An award is something given to a person, a group of people, or an organization to recognize their excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signified by trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons. An award may carry a monetary prize given to the recipient; for example, the Nobel Prize for contributions to society or the Pulitzer Prize for literary achievements. An award may also simply be a public acknowledgment of excellence, without any tangible token or prize.

Overview

Awards can be given by any person or institution, although the prestige of an award usually depends on the status of the awarder. Usually, awards are given by an organization of some sort, or by the office of an official within an organization or government. For instance, a special presidential citation (as given by the President of the United States) is a public announcement giving an official place of honor (e.g., President Ronald Reagan gave a special presidential citation in 1984 to the Disney Channel for its excellent children's television programming.)

Mahesh Babu

Mahesh Babu (born Mahesh Ghattamaneni, 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor, producer, media personality and philanthropist known for his work in Telugu cinema. He owns the production house G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. The younger son of actor Krishna, Mahesh holds a bachelor's degree in commerce. At the age of four, he made his debut as a child artist in Needa (1979) and acted in eight other films as a child artist. He made his debut as a lead actor with Rajakumarudu (1999) and won the Nandi Award for Best Male Debut.

Mahesh received breakthrough with the films Murari (2001) and Okkadu (2003); the former fetched him his first Nandi Special Jury Award and the latter fetched him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. The commercial successes of the films Athadu (2005) and Pokiri (2006) established him in the Telugu film industry. He later went on to act in other commercially successful films such as Dookudu (2011), Businessman (2012), Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013) and Srimanthudu (2015). To date, he has won seven Nandi Awards, four Filmfare Awards, three CineMAA Awards, two South Indian International Movie Awards and one International Indian Film Academy Awards.