Nissankara Savitri (6 December 1935 – 26 December 1981), known as Savitri, was an Indian actress, singer, director and producer who was the foremost actress of Telugu and Tamil cinema through the 1950s and 1960s. She appeared in about two hundred and fifty films and was known in Telugu as Mahanati, the great actress, and in Tamil as Nadigaiyar Thilagam, the pride of actresses. Her life, which ended in poverty and illness at forty-six, was told in the film Mahanati in 2018.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Nissankara Savitri |
| Born | 6 December 1935, Chirravuru, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh |
| Died | 26 December 1981, Madras (aged 46) |
| Occupation | Actress, director, producer, singer |
| Years active | 1950–1981 |
| Notable films | Devadasu, Missamma, Mayabazar, Kalathur Kannamma, Pasamalar, Gundamma Katha, Nartanasala, Thiruvilayadal |
| Awards | Rashtrapati Award for Chivaraku Migiledi (1960); Kalaimamani |
| Spouse | Gemini Ganesan |
| Children | Vijaya Chamundeswari and Satish Kumar |
Early Life
She was born in a village in the Guntur district of coastal Andhra. Her father died when she was a few months old, and she and her mother were taken in by an uncle, who noticed the child’s talent for dance and mimicry, had her trained, and put her on the stage as a girl in a troupe that toured the towns.
At about twelve she was taken to Madras to try for films, and was sent home as too young and too childish. She returned and got small dancing and supporting parts.
Rise
Her first notable role was in Pelli Chesi Choodu (1952). The next year she played Parvati in Devadasu, with Akkineni Nageswara Rao, in a version of the story that many in the south consider the best.
Missamma (1955), a comedy in which she played a quick-tempered Christian schoolteacher pretending to be married to a Hindu colleague, made her the leading actress in both Telugu and Tamil, in which it was filmed at the same time.
The Great Roles
- Mayabazar (1957), as the princess Sasirekha; in one long scene she plays a demon who has taken the princess’s form, a man’s swagger inside a girl’s body. The film is regularly voted the greatest in Telugu.
- Kalathur Kannamma (1960), the first film of the child Kamal Haasan
- Pasamalar (1961), as the sister, with Sivaji Ganesan
- Gundamma Katha (1962) and Nartanasala (1963), with N. T. Rama Rao
- Pava Mannippu, Kai Koduttha Deivam and Thiruvilayadal in Tamil
She acted opposite every leading man of the two industries, and it was said that their performances rose when she was in the scene. She had an extraordinarily mobile face; directors recalled that she could bring tears to one eye on demand, or stop them at a given word. She was equally gifted in comedy.
Gemini Ganesan
In 1952, at sixteen, she secretly married the Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan, who was already married with children, and who had another companion besides. The marriage became public a few years later. They had a daughter and a son, and acted together in many films. The marriage broke down in the late 1960s.
Director and Producer
She directed several films, beginning with Chinnari Papalu (1968), made with a crew composed largely of women, and produced others. Most lost money.
Generosity and Ruin
She was famous for giving. During the war of 1965 she took off the jewellery she was wearing and handed it to the Prime Minister for the defence fund. She paid for schools, for the weddings of colleagues’ daughters, and for anyone who came with a story.
By the early 1970s she had lost her wealth to failed productions, to trusted people who cheated her, and to the income-tax department, which seized her houses. She had begun to drink heavily, and developed diabetes and high blood pressure. She went on working in whatever parts were offered, as mothers and aunts.
Death
In May 1980, while shooting at Bangalore, she fell into a coma. She lay unconscious for nineteen months and died in Madras on 26 December 1981.
Legacy
Mahanati (2018), with Keerthy Suresh in the title role, won three National Film Awards and brought her story to a new audience. A postage stamp was issued in her honour in 2011. In the south she remains the standard by which actresses are measured.
Featured image: Savitri. Photo by India Post, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
