rakesh
Joined: 03 Apr 2006
Posts: 6
Location: sydney
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 SAVITRI KOMMA REDDY on Fri Apr 07, 2006 3:11 pm |
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| Mahanati Savithri
Savithri, you just give a tongue to utter the name and it creates
mickles of delightful envisions in your mind, just as the ?Gayathri
Manthra? gives out strong vibes when it was intoned. She predominated
the South Indian Silver Screen for more than two and a half decades and
remained as a definition for the substantial talent and for the
captivating exquisiteness. She radiated like a timeless moon in the sky
of South Indian cinema.
Savithri was born on December 6th, in the year 1936 in Chirravur, which
is a village in Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh. Kommareddy 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 Ba Memorial School at Vijayawada. She
learnt dancing while she was studying and got loads of appreciations
whenever she performed on the stage.
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.
Once when she took a chance to visit Gemini Studios, for the first time
she met Gemini Ganeshan over there. Gemini Ganeshan used to be a
well-known hero in the Tamil industry and was called as ?Kaadal Mannan?
(King of Love) by the Tamil audience. Gemini Ganeshan, subsequently,
said about Savithri ?She would definitely develop into an outstanding
actress in future.? Later his calculation turned out to be true when
she got an offer in the film ?Devadas?, pairing with Akkineni Nageswara
Rao. She incurred a substantial position for her in the Telugu film
industry after acting in the film ?Devadas? in the year 1953. This was
the film, which raised Savithri's image as an artiste. Among the films
of Savithri, the most illustrious films were ?Missamma?, ?Maya Bazar?,
?Ardhangi?, ?Kanya Sulkam?, ?Devatha?, ?Naadee Aada Janme?, etc., where
her astonishing performance bewitched the spectators. She acted about
318 films in Telugu, Tamil and a few films in Hindi like ?Bahut Din
Huyen?, ?Ghar Basake Dekho?, ?Balaram Sri Krishna?, ?Ganga ki Leharen?
etc. 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. Both the audience and 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.
Savithri was not only a distinguished actress but also a refined film
director. She had directed films like ?Chinnari Papalu?, ?Chiranjeevi?,
?Maathru Devatha? and ?Vintha Samsaram?in Telugu and a few films in
Tamil. Her misfortune started with the film ?Praptam? (Mooga Manasulu
in Telugu) the Tamil film, which was made under her own production and
direction. The film took nearly five years to be completed and that
pushed Savithri into non-recoverable debts. She would watch all the
Hollywood movies and analyze them in an amazing manner. She loved
Sophia Loren and Shirley McLain.
Her association with the Tamil actor Gemini Ganeshan feathered while
they were acting together for a Tamil film ?Manam Pola Mangalyam? and
it was again a love story, which directed to a secret marriage in the
year 1956. Afterward it was revealed subsequently when Savithri gave
her photo for the Lux soap advertisement, as it was signed as ?Savithri
Ganesh? at the backside of the photograph. Savithri and Gemini were
blessed with two children Vijaya Chamundeswari and Sathish. Savithri
used to be very strict, disciplined and compassionate as a mother.
Because of her work pressure she hardly found time to spend with her
kids. Even then she used to capture ten minutes out of her hectic
schedule and spent a good quality of time with her kids. She gave her
children complete liberty while insuring certain restrictions on them.
She never raised hands at her children. She loved her kids
immeasurably. Since there was no availability of televisions in our
country at that time, she arranged a 16mm projector, to show the films
that she had acted to her kids. Even though she discussed about films
with her children she never entertained them to pick for films, as she
never wished her children to experience the pains, which she had faced.
Savithri's 100th film ?Konjum Salangai? (?Muripinche Muvvalu? in
Telugu) happened to be paired with Gemini Ganeshan!
Apart from the films and her children, jasmine flowers and drizzling
rain were her favorite whimsies. She used to have a jasmine garden at
her home and she delighted plucking flowers from the bushes and wearing
them on her hair. She used to swamp herself in the rain, which was an
enjoyment for her. Before I forget Savithri was a left-hander. She also
had a great enthrallment towards sports and games like cricket and
chess. She never missed a cricket match that was played in Chennai.
Famous West Indies cricketer Gary Sobers was her most favorite sports
person. Even in those days she participated in the star-cricket with
Sivaji Ganeshan. She even possessed an attractive chess table made of
ivory. She was born with a tremendous sense of humour so as she got a
great and perfect proficiency in mimicking others. She left no person
that she had known not imitated. She enjoyed replicating people e.g.
her husband Gemini Ganeshan, Relangi, Saroja Devi, Sivaji Ganeshan,
S.V. Ranga Rao, Kabir Bedi and many others. Basically she was very
strong-minded and unwavering person. No human factor could change her
choices that she had made once furthermore she would never give up
things easily. She would never tell her problems to anyone she led her
life according to her own inherent aptitude. She was very freehearted
and freehanded while extending helping hands to others. Once she went
entirely bejeweled with gold and diamonds to meet the Prime Minister,
Sri Lal Bahaddur Shastri and gave away all the adornment for the Prime
Minister?s Relief Fund. Some people exploited her quality of innocence
and generosity.
She was awarded with the title ?Kalai Mamani? by the Tamilnadu State
Government, ?Nati Siromani? by the Andhra Yuvathi Mandali and with an
apt title as ?Mahanati?.
Unfortunately marriage was not a good occurrence in Savithri?s life.
When her husband, the person, whom she adored and trusted a lot,
ditched her, she was awfully distressed moreover it was a great blow on
her trust towards a person. The shock directed her to undergo depressed
conditions in her later part of life. It was very painful for her to
live to live alone in a vast house with two immature children. She lost
trust in people and adopted dangerous habits like alcohol, sleeping
pills, and drugs. Slowly he appetite vanished, intoxicants had
overruled her sentiments and sensitivities. Savithri was hospitalized
many times. She suffered a lot during her stay at the hospitals. On the
course of her travel to Mysore for a shooting she broke down, went into
coma, and was hurried back to Chennai where her children admitted her
in a hospital. There she lost her speech and left this world on 26th,
December 1981 at Madras. She left her screen life as an eternal model.
But what she was offered in return ?! |
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