Hyderabad, March 31 (IANS) Director Raj Rachakonda's critically acclaimed film '23', which went on to win the Special Jury Award at the Telangana government's Gaddar State Film Awards, is to be screened for prisoners of the state.

Disclosing this information at a felicitation ceremony in which she participated, Telangana Director General of Prisons Soumya Mishra pointed out that the film, the production of which was very difficult, had been handled in a very responsible way and complimented the makers for having made a fine film.

"I have seen this film and it is very impressive. I congratulate the team for this effort. The transformation of criminals has been well incorporated into the story. Prison life has not been shown so realistically on screen so far. 23 is a film that stands up to great films like The Shawshank Redemption. We will definitely arrange for this film to be shown to prisoners. Even if there is a change in some people, it will be a great success for this film. Congratulations to the film 23 for winning the Telangana Gaddar Special Jury Award," she said.

For the unaware, the Telugu film 23 (Twenty-three) has been directed by Raj Rachakonda, best known for having made critically acclaimed films like 'Mallesham' and '8 AM Metro'.

'23', which is based on a story of criminals' transformation, was released last year and received critical acclaim. Along with critical acclaim, the film also won the Special Jury Award at the Gaddar State Film Awards. On this occasion, Telangana Director General of Prisons Soumya Mishra specially congratulated the film team. She attended the felicitation ceremony organized on this occasion.

Director Raj said, "Thank you to the team who accompanied me on this journey. The journey of this film is very special. Thank you to the jury of the Gaddar Awards . I want the government to organize these screenings in prisons so that the purpose of this production can be fulfilled."

--IANS

mkr/