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Savitri or Savitri Ganesh, was a Telugu actress, director and producer of films in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages. She was known for her liveliness and captivating performance and is still treated as the benchmark for acting in Telugu movies and also called as one of the best actresses of All Time.

Savitri was born in Chinaravuru near Tenali in Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh, India to Nissankara Rao Guruviah and Subhadramma. She learned music and Indian classical dance under Sista Purnayya Sasthri. She performed stage shows during her childhood. She acted in 318 films in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi languages, with ten to twenty movies released per year.

She later directed some films. One day she went to meet the Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and donated all her jewelry she was wearing for the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. She also built a high school in Andhra. 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.

She gave some public performances as a child in Vijayawada. She worked in a theater company run by Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao. She also started her own company, the Navabharata Natya Mandali. Her best stage role was in Atma Vanchana written by Bucchi Babu.

Savitri was a legendary actress in Tamil. She has paired opposite leading actors like Sivaji Ganesan and M.G.R. She married Gemini Ganesh, while acting in ‘Manam Pola Mangalyam’(1953) with him. Savithris 100th film ‘Konjum Salangai’ (‘Muripinche Muvvalu’ in Telugu) also happened to be paired with Gemini Ganeshan. She was fondly called Nadigaiyar Thilagam in the Tamil film industry.

Kalathur Kannamma, Kai Kodutha Deivam, Thiruvilaiyadal, Navarathiri, Pasa Malar, Yaar Paiyyan, Paarthal Pasi Theerum, Padithal Mattum Podhuma, Karpagam, Karnan and Paava Mannippu are some of her memorable classics in Tamil.

Savitri secretly married Gemini Ganesan in 1954 and she declared it publicly three years after the wedding. Gemini Ganesan and Savitri made a hit pair on-screen. Her wedding was revealed when she signed in a photo for a Lux advertisement as Savithri Ganesh. They had two children Vijaya Chamundeswari and Sathish Kumar. Savitri was a strict, disciplined and compassionate mother. Since there was no availability of televisions at that time, she arranged a 16mm projector to show movies to kids. She would watch Hollywood movies and analyze them thoroughly. She loved Sophia Loren and Shirley MacLaine. She died at an early age of 46.