Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth to get AP govt's NTR National Film Award

Ace director K Raghavendra Rao will receive the same award for 2015. "Baahubali" director S S Rajamouli has been chosen for the B N Reddy National Film Award for the year 2014 while prominent Telugu film directors, Trivikram Srinivas and Boyapati Srinivas will get the award for 2015 and 2016.

Megastar and Rajya Sabha member K Chiranjeevi and former Union Minister U Krishnam Raju will be bestowed with the Raghupati Venkaiah Award.

A committee, headed by film star and MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna, has selected the awardees for the three years.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu gave his approval this evening, an official release said.

The NTR National Film Award was instituted in the memory of Telugu film legend and former Chief Minister Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao.

NTR's contemporary and doyen of Telugu films, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Kannada Kantheerava Rajkumar, Dilip Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and Amitabh Bachchan are some of the previous recipients of the prestigious award.

The award comprises a cash component of Rs 5 lakh and a memento.

The ceremony is expected to take place in January in Vijayawada, along with the Nandi Awards for best Telugu films.