Kommareddy Savitri, famously called as “Mahanati Savitri” was born on 6 December 1935. She is not only an actress, but also a director and producer. She had appeared in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages. Known for her liveliness and captivating performance, she is still treated as the benchmark for acting in movies. She was born to Nissankaram Guraviah and Subhadramma in Chirravur in Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh. She learned music and classical dance under Sista Purnayya Sasthri. She performed stage shows during her childhood. She gave some public performances as a child in Vijayawada. She worked in a theatre company run by Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao. She also started her own company, the Navabharata Natya Mandali. Her best stage role was in Atma Vanchana written by Bucchi Babu. Her first offer ‘Agni Pariksha’, was at the age of twelve in 1949.
However she looked too young after screen tests and was soon dropped. Though she narrowly missed the chance, another offer in the form of main role in the film ‘Samsaram’ knocked her door soon. The film was made under the banner ‘Santhakumarina Chitra’ in 1950. However, she was soon replaced by Pushpalatha and she was given small role, as she was nervous to act with popular actor Nageswara Rao. Though she lost chances twice narrowly, she never gave up. She performed a dance in Pathala Bhairavi in 1951. Then came her first main role, as a second heroine in the film “Pelli Chesi Choodu” by L. V. Prasad in 1952. Her early popular roles are in Ardhangi and Missamma. Savithri was a legendary actress in Tamil film industry too. She has paired opposite leading actors like Sivaji Ganesan, M.G.R in many films. Later, she married Gemini Ganesh, while acting in ‘Manam Pola Mangalyam’(1953) with him. Savithri’s 100th film. Konjum Salangai’ (‘Muripinche Muvvalu’) in Telugu also happened to be paired with Gemini Ganeshan. She was fondly called ‘Nadigaiyar Thilagam’ in Tamil film industry. She acted in few Hindi films like ‘Bahut Din Huwe’, ‘Ghar Basake Dekho’, ‘Balaram Sri Krishna’ and ‘Ganga ki Leharen’. She also acted in few Kannada films towards the end of her career. She played the role of mother of Dr.Rajkumar in superhit films Thaayige Thakka Maga and Ravichandra. It was her longtime wish to act with Rajkumar. She also acted in Chandanada Gombe. Savitri had directed films like ‘Chinnari Papalu’, ‘Chiranjeevi’, ‘Maathru Devatha’ and ‘Vintha Samsaram’ in Telugu. ‘Kuzhanthai Ullam’ and ‘Praptham’ in Tamil. She has got two children, Vijaya Chamundeswari and Sathish Kumar. Savithri was strict, disciplined and compassionate as a mother. Since there was no availability of televisions at that time, she arranged a 16mm projector to show her films to kids. She would watch all the Hollywood movies and analyze them in an amazing manner. She loved Sophia Loren and Shirley MacLaine. She acted in 318 films in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi languages, with ten to fifteen movies released per year. Today being her birthday, Filmytime uses this small article to remind all our present generation viewers about her career. We miss you “Savitri” garu
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