GURTHUKOSTUNNAYI - SAVITRI
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 was known for her liveliness and captivating performance and is still treated as the benchmark for acting in movies.
She acted in few Hindi films like Bahut Din Huwe, Ghar Basake Dekho, Balaram Sri Krishna and Ganga Ki Lahren.Savitri had directed films like Chinnari Papalu (1968), 'Chiranjeevi', 'Maathru Devatha' and 'Vintha Samsaram' in Telugu. 'Kuzhanthai Ullam' and 'Praptham' in Tamil.
Savitri was also involved in lot of social activities. She met the Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and donated all her jewellery for the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. She also built a high school in Andhra Pradesh.
Her favorite sports were cricket and chess. She used to play chess at home. She claimed that her favorite sports person was Gary Sobers. She participated in many celebrity cricket matches. Rashtrapati Award for best acting for the film Chivaraku Migiledi in 1960.Kalaimamani from the Government of Tamil Nadu.
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