Nandi jury gets a rap over awards

HYDERABAD: A theatre group Kalaranjani Samskrutika Nilayam from Pochampalli in Nalgonda district has found fault with the recently announced Nandi awards for film and television media and said that the public should also have a say in the selection of winners.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Kalaranjani president Bharatha Raghu alleged that selection of winners was not done in a democratic manner.He wanted the award committee to consider the public or viewers opinion before picking the winners.
Raghu said that it was unjust to award the best comedian award to actor Suman Shetty for the movie Jayam, as he enacted cheap scenes degrading the noble profession of teaching.
Raghu, on behalf of Kalaranjani, also protested against not presenting Koutami Naveen, the best child artist award. He said that in spite of playing the lead role and doing an exceptional job in the TV serial Naga Bala, the jury had overlooked Koutami for the best child artist Nandi award and instead gave it to another child who just donned a guest role in the same serial.
He said it was unprecedented to choose two actors for the best actor award. An actress who cannot dub for herself should not be given the best actress award, Raghu added.