Nandamuri Kalyan Ram has been conferred with the Best Actor Award by the cultural outfit Sri Kala Sudha for his performance in 'Bimbisara'. Speaking on the occasion, the 'Amigos' actor urged one and all not to compare him with the great NT Rama Rao, whom he described as the demigod of the Telugu people. Samantha Ruth Prabhu received the Best Actress Award for her performance in 'Yashoda'.
The 25th Ugadi Awards ceremony was held under the auspices of the Sri Kala Sudha Telugu Association on the premises of the Chennai Music Academy. Besides the recipient, the event saw the presence of actor-politician Ali, 'RRR' maker DVV Danayya and others.
Bethireddy Srinivas, the founder of the Association, welcomed dignitaries like former AP Governor Narasimhan. Legendary singer P Susheela, Mythri Movie Makers' Y Ravi Shankar, businessman Muvva Padmaiah and others also received a warm welcome.
Senior actress Eshwari Rao was conferred with the Bapu Bomma Award. 'Sita Ramam' maker Hanu Raghavapudi was given the Bapu-Ramana Puraskaram, while Swarnalatha was given the Mahila Ratna Award for her services in the field of medicine.
In her absence, a relative of hers collected the award. Actress Mani Srilekha received the Lata Mangeshkar Award, while cinematographer Vamsi Patchipulusu of 'Major' fame received the VSR Swamy Award.
Businessmen Vallepalli Shashi Kant and Subhash Chandra received distinguished awards in their arena of public life. Prasad Film Lab chief organizer Ramesh received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
