Nandi Rank(e)lu by Darina poye daanayya

The results are out and true to the spirit - EVERYBODY IS A WINNER. As they say, it is not winning that matters but the true spirit of competition and the right will to contest are what are more important in the long run.

Perhaps, whoever enunciated that might not have envisioned of our little telugu industry. Our co-existence and brotherhood need to be emulated by the rest of the world. We don't haggle for awards, we don't claw each other down like crabs, we don't sulk for not receiving awards. Our solution - create some more. We are quite conformant with our age-old culture that way.

Any new entrant that steps into our household is treated with utmost respect, is made to feel right at home and is offered the best of what we have. A new face, usually falling under immediate or not-so-immediate-but-still kin of our existing demi-gods, is flooded with offers before even tested for his mettle, offered mind-numbing signing amounts and to top it all, awarded the best new entrant Nandi at the following Ugaadi function. Whoever said the industry is stone-hearted and cold-shouldered?

There was a time when Sagara Sangamam stood third, while Ananda Bhairavi claimed the top honors. And then there were times when the jury felt that no film deserved the swarna Nandi. The plethora of the awards that exist now indicate that the industry has more talent that it could use and that our team could rival any Wood (Holly, Bolly, Kolly and other molls) and could beat them at their game, fair and square. The fates of those same heroes at the box-office are a different matter altogether. This year our jury was in real dilemma regarding the awarding of Best Jury Award that it could not home in on one person that they could confer the title. Each year our Nandi awards' list feels like a roster call in the assembly or a attendance call in a classroom. The top honors usually go to the top heroes, the jury awards are reserved for the second-in-command and then we have the best new face awards for the new entrants. Our finance ministry needs to pay some serious attention to the procedural detail of distributing limited resources to large populace. Best Jury Award, Best New Face, Best Movie, Best Movie that could be watched by the whole family (well, the award is not as descriptive as above, but wholesome entertainer is what it meant), Best Movie that only youngsters could go to, to have some fun and frolic, Best Movie that would bring tears to the daily-serial -addicted-female-demographic - looking at list, one could notice the amount of creativity pouring out of every crevice of the industry. Whoever said that we lag a tad in talent?

Award meant an acknowledgement of an achievement that was either unique or unparalleled during a given period. Award meant a pat on the back of the artist (or the technician) recognizing the blood and sweat that went into the making of the product. Award meant a fillip to one's career, a brand for the rest of his life that he/she could deliver the performance at or above the level that was recognized by the jury. So much for the ideals! Now a days, everything, but the standards of adjudicating, grew around the Nandi awards. The number of awards, the number of people contesting for them, the number of people clamoring for them and the number of people lobbying for them. A scan through the list indicates two things - the jury is either too lazy or too afraid to rub people the wrong way or the jury isn't discerning enough to possess the ability of sifting the good from the bad, better from the good and the best from the better - both cases detrimental to the purpose of instating the awards in the first place. How on earth could one decide on the ranking of the vastly different movies - this movie is the best, this movie is the second best etc? What guidelines do they follow in deciding which one takes the top honors? How does one compare an utterly commercial movie to distinctly subdued movie and then make a judgment that this apple tastes better than an that orange?

Tighten up the belts - it is time to bring back the lost respect and the forgotten glory to the tradition of the Nandi awards. Unlike sponsored awards, where vested parties with vested interests tend to push their agenda in the form of awards, these government instituted awards need to be objective, demanding and unpardoning.

1. Lessen the number of best movie awards - there is no second best or third best, there is only one best - the best; even English language would agree with that.

2. Eliminate the jury awards - the jury has already awarded the best actor/actress awards; special jury would indicate awarding special status to certain people of the acting brethren and even the term special jury would imply that a second team has been brought in re-evaluate the examination paper and pass those who failed to make the initial cut.

3. Get rid of the new awards - Best New Face, Best New Face acting in the second movie who did not get a dialogue role in the First movie and hence could be considered as a new face even though he is one movie old, Best New Director writing the screenplay for the first time even though this is the second movie because he couldn't get a chance to write his own screenplay following business pressures from the producer - all these awards would lead to the inference that people are being sneaked in, for ulterior motives, without enough qualifications.

Fewer awards would not only increase the competition (and lobbying too, which is an unavoidable exercise, but may the best lobbyist win there too!) but also restore the prestige of the institution much maligned and damaged by the excesses of vacillating judgments. As a side note, the government would then need to spend lesser amounts on these awards and indulge in restituting actors Of yester years, who are in financially deplorable states. Situation is ripe to suit up and act wise before it is too late. As the saying goes, "mandi ekkuvaitae nandi palachana"!!

nandi gOvu paalu gariTeDainanu caalu
kaDiveDaina naemi konna rivaarDulu
muccataina awaarDlu mooDunna caalu
viswadaabhi raama vinave sinee seema!