Telangana CM Revanth Reddy felicitates National Film Award winners, promises to make Hyderabad a major film hub

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has promised to make Hyderabad a leading hub for filmmaking in India. While meeting the 71st National Film Award winners at his residence, he assured that the state government would provide all kinds of support to promote the film industry.According to ANI, the Chief Minister highlighted that cinema is not just an art form but also a major contributor to employment, tourism, and Telangana’s cultural identity.Telugu cinema made a strong mark at the 71st National Film Awards, 2023, winning seven honours across various categories. The films 'Hanu-Man' and 'Baby' each won two awards.In the feature films category, 'Hanu-Man' was named best film in the AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics) category. Choreographer Nandu Prudhvi also won the best action direction (stunt choreography) award for the same film.'Baby' won two key awards, best male playback singer went to PVNS Rohit for the song 'Premisthunna', while Sai Rajesh Neelam won best screenplay (original). Additionally, the award for best lyrics was given to Kasarla Shyam for the song 'Ooru Palleturu' from 'Balagam'.The action drama 'Bhagavanth Kesari', starring Nandamuri Balakrishna, was named best Telugu film in the best feature films in different languages category.During the meeting, CM Revanth Reddy felicitated several National Film Award winners. These included Anil Ravipudi, director of the 2023 action drama film 'Bhagavanth Kesari'; Prasanth Varma, director of the Telugu superhero film 'Hanu-Man', along with its visual effects team members Venkat and Srinivas; fight masters Nandu and Prithvi; Sai Rajesh, director of the coming-of-age romantic drama 'Baby'; and singer Rohit. Producers present at the event included Chaitanya Reddy and Niranjan Reddy ('Hanu-Man'), SKN ('Baby'), and Garapati Sahu ('Bhagavanth Kesari'), among others.As reported by TOI, Revanth Reddy praised the achievements of the award winners and noted that the government recognised cinema not only as an art form but also as an important contributor to employment, tourism, and the state’s cultural identity. He assured that the government would actively address the challenges faced by the industry and create a supportive environment for filmmakers.CM Reddy also reiterated his commitment to making Hyderabad a centre for Indian cinema production, stating that the state government would provide all necessary support to the film industry.