Overview
- The ceremony returned after a 14-year hiatus at HITEX in Hyderabad, honoring films from 2024 and backlogs dating to 2014.
- Allu Arjun received the Best Actor award for Pushpa 2 and dedicated his win to director Sukumar, producers and his fan base.
- Revanth Reddy presented trophies and called on filmmakers to set aside past differences and contribute to Telangana’s $3 trillion growth vision.
- The event featured performances and drew industry luminaries such as Nandamuri Balakrishna, Vijay Deverakonda and S S Rajamouli, highlighted by a viral clip of Balakrishna playfully urging Arjun to dance.
- Producer Dil Raju criticized the absence of stars like Prabhas, Mahesh Babu, Jr. NTR and Ram Charan, while BJP figures objected to naming the awards after poet-activist Gaddar.