SS Rajamouli bags best director award at New York Film Critics Circle for 'RRR'
New Delhi (PTI): Filmmaker SS Rajamouli has bagged the best director award at the New York Film Critics Circle as his film "RRR" continues to make waves in the Western markets.
The winners were announced by the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) on Friday night on its social media platforms.
The official Twitter handle of "RRR" also shared the news of Rajamouli's win at the movie gala.
"@SSRajamouli wins the prestigious New York Film Critics Circle Award for the Best Director! @NYFCC Words can't do justice to describe how happy and proud we are... Our heartfelt thanks to the jury for recognising #RRRMovie" read the tweet.
A pre-Independence fictional story, "RRR" stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR as real-life Indian revolutionaries in the 1920s Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, respectively.
Jr NTR congratulated Rajamouli on Twitter and said the filmmaker's win at the NYFCC marks the beginning of his "journey to worldwide glory".
"It's time for the world to know what I knew about you all along," he added.
Released theatrically in March, "RRR" raised over Rs 1,200 crore at the global box office. The Hindi version of the film premiered on Netflix on May 20 and soon became the most popular movie from India on the streamer globally.
As the film reached overseas territories, it received praise from the who's who of Hollywood such as Edgar Wright, "Doctor Strange" director Scott Derrickson and writer C Robert Cargill, Joe Dante of "Gremlins" fame, "Guardians of the Galaxy" films director James Gunn, "Dune" screenwriter Jon Spaihts, filmmaker Christopher Miller and "The Gray Man" directors Anthony and Joe Russo.
In the US, "RRR" is being distributed by Variance Films, which has mounted a substantial campaign to have the film recognised in the general categories including best picture, according to entertainment news outlet Variety.
The New York Film Critics Circle also unveiled winners for other categories with Todd Field's "Tar" taking home the Best Picture trophy and lead star Cate Blanchett winning the Best Actress award.
The Best Actor award went to Colin Farrell for his performances in Kogonada's "After Yang" and Martin McDonagh's "The Banshees of Inisherin".
Ke Huy Quan won the Best Supporting Actor for "Everything Everywhere All At Once" and "Nope" star Keke Palmer bagged the Best Supporting Actress award.
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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
