Hyderabad, March 7 – Telugu star Nagarjuna expressed his pride on Saturday that his son, Naga Chaitanya, was chosen for the Gaddar State Film Award for Best Actor for 2025 by the Telangana state government. He said that Naga Chaitanya's outstanding performance in "Thandel" deserved this recognition.
Shortly after the Telangana government announced the winners of the prestigious state awards for 2025, now known as the Gaddar Awards, Nagarjuna congratulated the winners on his X timeline and thanked the government for establishing the ANR Award in honor of his late father, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who was awarded the Dada Saheb Phalke Award.
Nagarjuna wrote, "Heartiest congratulations to all the #2025GaddarAward winners! A big thank you to the Telangana Government @revanthanumula garu @Bhattimallu garu for establishing the ANR Award in honor of my father, Dada Saheb Phalke Award winner, Akkineni Nageswara Rao. This is truly a fitting tribute."
The actor also expressed delight that the ANR Award this year went to veteran actress Jayapradha, whom Nagarjuna said was a very deserving person.
He wrote, "Delighted that it (the ANR Award) is awarded to the most deserving, Jayasudha!"
He also congratulated Mega Star Chiranjeevi for winning the NTR Award and 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 recognition! #TeluguCinema #GaddarAwards2025."
For those who are unaware, the film awards were established 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 announced last year 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.
