Nandi’s political horns

Are the Nandi awards a recognition of talent or a tool of political clout? Before you ask why we're stirring up the top-soil on such a prestigious award, let's look at where the Telugu film frat stands, politically speaking.
For starters, compared to other film industries which have graduated to realistic cinema, the film industry here is too caught up with the heavily masala-flavoured commercial fare.The Nandi awards likewise seem to be getting commercialized with Tollywood BO-stars Mahesh Babu and Nagarjuna chosen to be awarded for Athadu (2005) and Sree Ramadasu (2006), respectively.
Analyse the political scenario, with elections impending, and there's clearly, or rather obscurely, more to it than meets the eye. "What's fishy is that this is the year of election and it's a known fact that Nagarjuna has done ads endorsing the ruling party's initiatives, while Mahesh Babu's father Krishna is known to be pro-Congress. More than political, it's seems to have business interests! They (the actors) had some land deals and there seem to be deals getting made to get support from the government," says TRS general secretary Nayani Narasimha Reddy. "What's also surprising is that instead of hosting the award ceremony at Ravindra Bharathi or Lalitha Kala Thoranam, this year, they are holding it at Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium. The congress is pulling all the sorts of tricks to draw maximum number of people. It's a strategy to show the fans which way their stars' allegiances lie," says BJP floor-leader Kishen Reddy.
Sashidhar Reddy, chairman for National XXX and Congress MLA, however, rubbishes it all as "coincidence." "Nagarjuna and Mahesh are great actors. The jury couldn't have thought of it politically as these names were chosen two years ago." However, Kishen Reddy says, "Agreed, that's the case. If the names were nominated two years ago, why award them now during the year of election. It's an irony that good directors like KNT Sastry have never been nominated for Nandi Awards even though he's been honoured with national awards. Where's the question of talent then?" Film industry insiders say that while Krishna is trying to pull a reluctant Mahesh Babu into politics, Nagarjuna is shying away from it, although both of them have not confirmed or denied anything officially. "Till now I haven't seen it being politicized. I would like to wait and watch if there's any political overtone," says Mohan Krishna Indraganti, a film director. "The Nandi Awards has lost its sheen. Whoever comes to power, their supporter gets the awards. It's hardly about talent," says Ravi Kumar, a lawyer. Well, with the script turning koncham filmi, the award functions will sure be something to keep track of!