Mahanati (2018)

Biography of Savitri, an actress from South India movie industry, who ruled the industry for two decades during 50s and 60s.

Director:

Nag Ashwin

Writers:

Nag Ashwin (screenplay), Sai Madhav Burra (dialogue)

Stars:

Keerthi Suresh, Dulquer Salmaan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Keerthi Suresh	...	Savitri
Dulquer Salmaan	...	Gemini Ganesan
Samantha Ruth Prabhu	...	Madhuravani (as Samantha Akkineni)
Vijay Deverakonda	...	Vijay Anthony
Rajendraprasad	...	K.V. Chowdary (as Rajendra Prasad) (as Dr. Rajendra Prasad)
Bhanupriya	...	Durgamba (as Bhanu Priya)
Divyavani	...	Subadrama
Mohan Babu	...	S.V. Ranga Rao
Prakash Raj	...	Chakrapani
Srinivas Avasarala	...	L.V. Prasad
Naga Chaitanya Akkineni	...	ANR (as Naga Chaitanya)
Manobala	...	Pulliah
Malavika Nair	...	Alimelu
Shalini Pandey	...	Susheela
Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi	...	K.V. Reddy (as Krish)

Storyline

Mahanati depicts the personal and professional life of first Indian female superstar, Savitri. After actress Savitri is admitted in a hospital in Bangalore and she goes into coma, a young investigative journalist, Madhuravani, seizes the opportunity to write an article on her life. The young Savitri meets Gemini Ganesan, who works in casting department, after her failed attempts to get a role in cinema. They both start a career in acting and eventually rise to stardom. Savitri falls in love with him despite the fact that he is married. Their marriage results in a rift with her family but Savitri never gives up on her love. Her dreams are shattered when she learns that Gemini Ganesan is a womanizer and has been continuing his illicit relationships even after their marriage. The rest of the story is about how she stood up against all odds and the result of her wrong choices in life.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Telugu Tamil

Release Date:

8 May 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Great Actress

Box Office

Budget:

$3,650,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Swapna Cinema,Vyjayanthi Movies

Technical Specs

Runtime:

177 min

Color:

Color Black and White (some sequences) Black and White (film in film sequences)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film became the 2nd highest grossing heroine oriented South Indian film of all time just behind Rudramadevi which released in 2015.

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Goofs

When Savithri was approached by Chakrapani for convincing her to accept role in Mayabazar, she was shown hearing the song "aduthu paduthu pani chestunte" in radio. That song was from the film Thodikodallu which was signed and filmed much later to Mayabazar, though released two months earlier.

User Reviews

Must watch

I am not one of the best describer but here it goes. The movie was beautiful and it teared up people. One main thing to keep in mind is that don't expect Keerthi Suresh to be exactly like Savithri. In my opinion Keerthi's acting was perfect, in few scenes it was as if it was Savithri herself.

Dulqar Salman acting as Gemini Ganesan was good. They way he would call her "Amadi" with affection was so beautiful. Samantha and Vijay Devarakonda, they did their best, the comedy was plesant. I love how the late 80's is shot, it was as if we are watching 80's movie.

There were many actors whom I didn't expect to be in the movie but did well, even Sandeep Vanga was there. Shalini Pandey has not so big but imporatant role which she did perfectly. Ending credits showed old pictures and new pictures imitating old pictures.

The way it would change from present to past is fluid. They did their best to fit everything in three hours. The costumes were beautiful. Director, producers and everyone else did such a good job. They did their research, I read how they spent long time recreating the costumes and jewelry.

If the team is reading this, you people did your best. I haven't seen old people, my grandparent's generation coming to theaters to watch movies but there were people of all age groups, especially older people.

Please don't miss this movie. This is movie of the year so far.