Speaking to the media on Thursday, a hurt Gunasekhar broke down into tears. Saying that 'Rudrama Devi' has got a raw deal, he wondered how Allu Arjun could be given a Nandi in the character artist category and not in the supporting actor one.

"How can a star hero be called a character artist? This is not to demean the category. He did the role in 'RD' after the super-successful 'Race Gurram'. How is it justified to call him a character artist? Balakrishna garu did a supporting role in 'U Kodatara Ulikki Padatara' out of respect for Mohan Babu garu. Can we call it a character role? Bunny's fans might have been hurt by the jury's decision," Gunasekhar said.

"Bunny had swept private awards for his Gonaganna Reddy act. They seem to have given the Nandi award to avert the wrath of his fans, who might have laid siege to Amaravathi!" the director opined.

Guna feels that Allu Arjun should have won the Best Actor award for 'Race Gurram'. "His is a live wire acting in the movie. Some of the heroes too praised him for his performance. The movie is not vulgar. It's a wholesome entertainer. The committee members are claiming that the process of choosing the best winners was transparent. What is the meaning of transparency," he questioned.

"Nobody came to my support when I made 'RD'. But they exempted 'Gautamiputra Satakarni' from Entertainment Tax. Rudrama Devi was not a Telangana leader. She united the Telugus of all regions. Even Marco Polo hailed her to the skies. I made a historical on her life. Nobody had made a film in this genre for 3 decades. But the kind of unity visible when 'GPSK' was made was never there when I made 'RD'. I urged the AP Government to give tax exemption more than a few times. While the Telangana govt responded, AP didn't," he said emotionally.

Guna said that winning Nandis was not new to him. "I have personally won 8 Nandis. My 12 films have between them won about 30 Nandis. 'Okkadu' had won 8 Nandis. I am ready to face criticism," he said.