Andhra Pradesh clears pending Nandi Awards, ceremonies planned for December 2026

The long wait for the Nandi Awards is finally ending. The Andhra Pradesh government has approved clearing the pending Nandi Film and TV Awards from 2012 onwards, closing a gap that has hung over Telugu cinema for more than a decade.

AP Film, Television and Theatre Development Corporation chairman P. Bharat Bhushan laid out the plan along with MD K.S. Viswanathan. The awards from 2012 to 2016 will be presented as they were pending. For each year from 2017 to 2024, four awards will be given, covering the top honours and two special jury awards. The 2025 awards will also be taken up in the same round.

The timeline is now on paper. Committees are being formed in October, the selection work runs through November, and the ceremonies are planned for December 2026. The Nandi Film Awards will be held in the Amaravati and Vijayawada region, while the Nandi Television Awards go to Tirupati.

The scale is large. A total of 46 awards will be handed out in the film category, spanning films, performances, acting and technical work. Winners get Nandi awards in gold, silver, bronze and copper along with certificates and cash prizes, with eight gold medals across different categories. The television side carries 48 awards.

The national film awards instituted by the state are also back in the list. The NTR National Film Award, the B.N. Reddy National Film Award and the Raghupathi Venkaiah Film Award will all be presented with cash prizes.

Theatre has not been left out either. The Nandi theatre awards are returning, with a theatre festival planned in Tenali in January 2027. Reports say the revival moved forward after the intervention of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, with Nandamuri Balakrishna also playing a part in pushing it along.

Category wise details and application procedures will be shared through the corporation's official platform. The real test now is execution, clearing a backlog this big and restoring the weight the Nandi name once carried in Telugu cinema.