Hyderabad: Director Nag Ashwin, whose film Mahanati won the Best Actress award for Keerthy Suresh, said Keerthy was not his first choice.
Ashwin, who worked for more than two years on the film, said: “She was lucky to get this award. I selected her after I saw her in a song in one of her films. It all worked out in the right time.”
Ashwin said he was very happy that Telugu cinema is doing well. “There are no boundaries to good cinema, it goes everywhere. I feel that over the last few years Telugu cinema is going places. It is very good to see that our Telugu films are doing very good.
“We are happy and excited that the film won three awards, but we feel more special about Keerthy winning the Best Actress,” he said, pointing out that while Mahanati was based on the life of Savitri, the legendary actress herself never won a National Award.
“May be through this film Savitri garu gets national recognition,” he said.
“If the film gets a positive response it gives us immense happiness. We never think about awards but we are happy to get the awards,” he said.
Rahul Ravindra, director of Chi La Sow which won the National Award for Best Screenplay, said: “I am very happy and I should thank my parents, wife Chinmayi and my brother because when I left my job and entered films, they supported and encouraged me.”
He said the unit had sent Chi La Sow, a small film, for the National Awards and forgot about it.
“When we heard that our film had won the award, it gave us unforgettable happiness,” Rahul said.
The director said lead actor Sushanth believed in the story and accepted the role. “Nagarjuna supported us during the release and was our backbone. Because of him, the film released in a big way and reached people,” he said.
Rahul thanked lead actress Ruhani Sharma and other technicians.
“I heard that many other Telugu films won awards this time and I congratulate all of them. This year is a big one for Telugu cinema.”
Actor Akkineni Nagarjuna said that after seeing Chi La Sow, I roped him in for my film Manmadhudu 2.” He had special praise for Awe. He and Nani have worked together in the multi-starrer Devdas.
Actor Nani, the producer of Awe, which won Best Make-up and Special Effects, said, “I would like to encourage new talent, so with Awe we introduced director Prashanth Varma. The film has won many accolades. As a producer, I feel more responsibility when we win such awards. We want to produce more good films.”
