For her first Tamil movie, the director got someone to dub for her role as she did not know the language and refused to give her a chance to say her own dialogues. She was a cool beauty and when she performed on the sets, there was utmost perfection and people would be in awe watching her. “There was luminescence like moonlight on her face. Imagine a twenty-something woman in a sari, that too in the 1950s, loving car-racing, cricket. Savitri was not just a phenomenal actress but was also known for unique personality. ‘Stubborn, determined, could effortlessly get under the skin of any role, chirpy, and a renowned philanthropist’ is how most veteran film experts remember the icon.Īlso read: Netflix’s Meenakshi Sundareshwar is all about the ‘South Indian aesthetic’.

There are more than a few ways to remember Savitri, who started her journey in the mainstream movie industry as a teenager. Mahanati was a box office success and even won National Film Awards in 2019, including Best Feature Film in Telugu, Best Actress, and Best Costume Design. In fact, to many in their 20s or 30s, the movie did give a sneak peek into the actress’ life which was glamorous and successful but with a heart-wrenchingly tragic end.

“There were so many instances when movie shoots had to be cancelled or postponed to suit Savitri’s schedule and I think that speaks a lot of what a personality she was,” director Nag Ashwin told ThePrint.Īshwin’s 2018 multilingual biopic on Savitri titled ‘ Mahanati’ in Telugu was an attempt to give the younger generation a chance to rediscover the actress, he said. Savitri easily acted in over 300 films during that period including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and even a few Hindi films. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, and Sivaji Ganesan. This was the era when the South film industry had male icons such as N.T. Imagine the charm, the aura one must have to leave a legacy that last decades and probably will be talked about for many more decades to come – such was Savitri – the South Indian actress from the 1950s who rose to become an ‘evergreen’ star in male-dominated entertainment industry.Īt a time when scripts, shoots were planned keeping only the male stars in mind, Savitri’s performances, her expressions, and her beauty forced writers and directors to think otherwise.

Old telugu movies list 1950