Hyderabad, March 09: Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel (SVBC), owned by the Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam (TTD), won Nandi TV awards in 11 categories for the year 2008 and carved out a special place among large number of regional channels. The TTD authorities claimed that the SVBC which is a devotional channel, has set a record of sorts by bagging 11 Nandi awards in the first year of its launch.
Speaking at a press conference here today, TTD chairman D Adikesavulu Naidu said that the SVBC was started in July 2008 with an aim to bring Lord Venkateswara closer to the homes of his devotees and provide them a closer look of the temple. “As all the devotees do not have access to various rituals conducted at the temple, the channel has provided an opportunity for them to witness all sevas offered to the Lord,’’ he said. He felt that the awards show the popularity of the channel among viewers across the globe.
TTD executive officer IYR Krishna Rao said that the TTD is spending about Rs 50 crore from its Rs 1,100 crore annual budget for Hindu dharmapracharam.
As the channel was gaining popularity and playing a vital role in dharmapracharam, the TTD is ready to increase the budget by another Rs 50 crore. However, he wanted the staff to produce authentic programmes without deviating from the original history.
The SVBC bagged one Gold Nandi for best TV mega serial – Mathrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba, three silver Nandis for second best TV serial – Srushti, best director – Udayabhaskar (Tarigonda Vengamamba), best leading actres s – Meena (Tarigonda Vengamamba), seven bronze awards for best villain – Ranganath (Srushti), best music director – N Sudhir Kumar (Srinivasa Mandaram), best art director – V Bhaskara Raju (Tarigonda Vengamamba), best dubbibg artiste – RCM Raju (Puranagathalu), best male anchor – B Santhoshakumara Sastry (Gurudevobhava), best costume designer – Prakash Rao (Srushti) and best graphics – Balasankara Reddy (Srushti).
—Agencies