Daijiworld Media Network - Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Feb 22: The 70th Filmfare Awards South, held in association with Kerala Tourism, celebrated a landmark year for Telugu cinema, honouring films and artistes that combined box office success with critical acclaim.

Pushpa 2: The Rule emerged as the biggest winner of the night, sweeping top honours including Best Film and Best Director for Sukumar.

Allu Arjun won Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) for his performance in Pushpa 2: The Rule, further cementing the film’s dominance. The film also bagged Best Music Album for Devi Sri Prasad.

In the critics’ categories, Lucky Baskhar, directed by Venky Atluri, won Best Film (Critics), while Teja Sajja secured Best Actor (Critics) for Hanu-Man.

Nivetha Thomas won Best Actress in a Leading Role (Female) for 35 Chinna Katha Kaadu, while Kajal Aggarwal took home Best Actress (Critics) for Satyabhama.

Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan was honoured with Best Supporting Actor for Kalki 2898 AD, while Anjali won Best Supporting Actress for Gangs of Godavari.

In the music categories, Ramajogayya Sastry won Best Lyrics for “Chuttamalle” from Devara: Part 1. Sri Krishna won Best Playback Singer (Male) for “Kurchi Madathapetti” from Guntur Kaaram, while Shilpa Rao bagged Best Playback Singer (Female) for “Chuttamalle” from Devara: Part 1.

Best Choreography went to Sekhar Master for “Kurchi Madathapetti” (Guntur Kaaram).

In the debut categories, Yadhu Vamsi was named Best Debut Director for Committee Kurrollu. Sandeep Saroj won Best Debut Male for Committee Kurrollu, while Nayan Sarika secured Best Debut Female for Gam Gam Ganesha.

For production design, Nitin Zihani Choudhary was honoured for Kalki 2898 AD, while Ramakrishna and Monika were recognised for Pushpa 2: The Rule.

This year’s edition clearly belonged to Pushpa 2: The Rule, while films such as Lucky Baskhar, Hanu-Man and 35 Chinna Katha Kaadu ensured a diverse and vibrant representation of Telugu cinema’s storytelling and performances.