2019-12-26 Thu

Savitri ruled the roost in Telugu and Tamil filmdom for nearly 15 years in the fifties and sixties and was hailed as the finest actress of her time. The actress was extremely popular with Tamil and Telugu audiences during her time and enjoyed what could be termed as a cult following at the peak of her career.

Savitri was not only a brilliant actress but was also a playback singer, dancer, director and producer. She got her first big break in the 1952 Telugu film Pelli Chesi Choodu and received the Rashtrapati Award in 1960 for her work in ‘Chivaraku Migiledi’. She produced and directed the Telugu film Chinnari Papalu in 1968, which got the state Nandi Award for Best Feature Film (Silver). The 30th International Film Festival of India nominated her in the list of “women in cinema”.

India post had released a set of six commemorative stamps in 2011 to honour famous heroines of India, and one of them was dedicated to Savitri. The 5 rupees stamp features a close-up photo of Savitri along with another picture from one of her films.

She was in a coma for 19 months and breathed her last on December 26, 1981.