MAHANATI SAVITRI

About Savitri - Mahanati

Savithri was born on December 6th, in the year 1936 in Chirravur village in Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh. Nissankaram Guraviah and Subhadramma were her parents. She lost her father when she was just six years old. With her uncle’s support, she studied till third form (eighth standard) in Kasturi Bai Memorial School at Vijayawada. She learnt dancing while she was studying and got loads of appreciations whenever she performed on the stage. She was born in a wealthy family. She learnt music and classical dance under Sista Purnayya Sasthri and gave some public performances as a child in Vijayawada. She worked in a theater company run by Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao, K Jaggayya et al. Later on she started her own group, the Navabharata Natya Mandali. She also acted in a play Atma Vanchana by Buchi Babu.

She was bestowed into the film industry at a very young age (at the age of twelve) as she got an offer in the film ‘Agni Pariksha’. She merely missed the chance because she looked too young to play the role in that particular film. Soon after that, she got a key role in the film ‘Samsaram’, which was produced by the banner ‘Sadhana Chitra’ in 1950 but again bad luck shoved off the role since she felt very abashed and tensed up to take through with Akkineni Nageswara Rao as he is a big star. As a result she was replaced by Pushpalatha but was offered a small role in that movie. When the film was released, the producers and directors recognized her inborn talent. She caught chances to act in films like ‘Sankranthi’, ‘Palleturu’ etc. She performed in a dance flick in the legendary film ‘Pathala Bhairavi’ in 1951. There was no looking back for Savithri, after she had performed as a second heroine in the film ‘Pelli Chesi Choodu’ in 1952.

She made her debut in Telugu Cinema with LV Prasad's Samsaram. She acted in minor films until she turned a star with Pelli Chesi Choodu. She had to wait till Ardhangi to establish her acting credentials. She played the lead role of Mary in LV Prasad's comedy film Missamma. She acted in several films by choreographer-director Raghavaiah, e.g Devadas.

She acted in memorable films like Pelli Chesi Choodu (1952), Palletooru (1952), Chandra Haram (1953), Devadasu (1953), Ardhangi (1955), Missamma(1955), Donga Ramudu (1955), Amara Deepam (1956), Mayabazaar (1957), Appu Chesi Pappu Kodu (1959), Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam (1960), Aradhana (1962), Gundamma Katha (1962), Rakta Tilakam (1963), Mooga Manasulu (1963), Poojaphalam (1964), Pandava Vanavasam (1965), Prana Mitrulu (1967), Varakatnam (1968), Maro Prapancham (1970) and Jagan Mohini (1978).

Of all Savithri's movies Chivarakumigiledi is considered to be a magnum opus.The film which got her the national award. Apart from those films that are already mentioned there are some more great movies such as DongaRamudu(1956), Todikodallu(1957), Mangalya Balam(1958), Abhimanam(1958), Muripinche muvvalu(1960), Manchi Manasulu(1961), Doctor Chakravarthi(1964), Devatha(1965) and Manase Mandiram(1971). These movies stand as a shining testimony to her versatality as an actress. These movies will find a mention in a list of all time great telugu movies.

She almost acted with every top hero of the Telugu and the Tamil cinema fields. Savithri used to take over the scene regardless of the actor she was performing with. She was similarly triumphed over the Telugu and Tamil industries. She was treated as the number one heroine. Because at that time there used to be nearly 20 Savithri starred movies released in a year. Every role where Savithri had enacted made her to stand as a persistent symbol. The audience as well as the critics appreciated her. The women audience would adore Savithri for her liveliness and captivating performance. During her career, she focused her mind only on acting. She found no time to think about anything other than acting. She was very dedicated to her career. Since she was chubby, she even underwent severe dieting to suit her role while she was acting for some of her films.