Hyderabad, March 21 Actor Naga Chaitanya, who recently received the Telangana government's Gaddar Film award for Best Actor for 2025 for his performance in the film 'Thandel', has now penned a note of gratitude in which he has thanked the entire cast and crew of the film, as well as the Telangana Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, among others.
Taking to his X timeline to post his gratitude, Naga Chaitanya wrote that he was truly honored to receive the Telangana Gaddar Film Award 2025 for Best Leading Actor for #Thandel.
"This film has been a deeply special journey for me, and I am grateful beyond words to have had the opportunity to be part of this narrative and bring this true heroic story to the screen," the young actor wrote, and went on to thank a series of people for the honor.
He said, "I would like to thank the entire cast and crew of #Thandel, without whose efforts this award would not have been possible. I would also like to thank the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Telangana, @revanthanumula Garu, the Hon'ble Deputy Chief Minister, @BhattiMallu Garu, the Hon'ble Minister, @KomatireddyKVR Garu, and the entire Gaddar film awards committee for this recognition, as well as dearest @AlwaysRamCharan for presenting the award."
It may be recalled that Naga Chaitanya's father, Nagarjuna, was the first to express his happiness and excitement when news broke that Naga Chaitanya had won the Best Actor Award.
Stating that he was proud of his son, Naga Chaitanya, being chosen for the award by the Telangana state government, Telugu star Nagarjuna had said that Naga Chaitanya's stellar performance in 'Thandel' deserved this recognition.
Nagarjuna took to his social media timelines to express his gratitude. He wrote, "Heartiest congratulations to all the #2025GaddarAward winners! A big thank you to the Telangana Government @revanthanumula garu @Bhattimallu garu for instituting the ANR Award in honor of my father, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who was awarded the Dada Saheb Phalke Award. This is truly a fitting tribute."
The actor also expressed delight that the ANR award this year had gone to veteran actress Jayapradha, who, Nagarjuna said, was a very deserving person.
He wrote, "Delighted that it (the ANR Award) is awarded to the most deserving Jayasudha garu!"
He went on to congratulate Mega star Chiranjeevi for having won the NTR Award, and also expressed pride at his son Naga Chaitanya winning the award for Best Actor for his performance in 'Thandel'.
Nagarjuna wrote, "Mega congrats to @kchirutweets garu on the NTR Award. And proud of my son @chay_akkineni for Best Actor; his stellar performance in #Thandel deserves this pat on the back! #TeluguCinema #GaddarAwards2025."
For those unaware, the film awards have been instituted by the Telangana state government in the name of revolutionary poet and balladeer Gaddar, who passed away in 2023. It may be recalled that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had, the previous year, announced that the Nandi Awards for excellence in Telugu cinema would be revived and renamed after Gaddar. The awards were revived after a gap of 14 years last year.