Mahanati Savitri

Indian Express,  June 28, 2009

Colour beneath the black & white

Sharadha Narayanan

First Published : 28 Jun 2009 03:41:00 PM IST

Last Updated : 28 Jun 2009 01:51:57 PM IST

The central character was a great artiste; so you expect the book also to be extraordinary. For that to happen, and in this case about the late film heroine Savitri, the biographers need to be detached - at least during the time of writing. But V R Murthy and V Soma Raju are such ardent fans of the yesteryear actor-director-producer that this basic norm is violated. Result: a hagiography, and an often meandering one at that.

The brothers, in fact, come up with what’s a complete one-stop search about the Telugu-origin actress who died in 1981, aged 44. Thus, A Legendary Actress: Mahanati Savitri is a copious collection of information where, for instance, you’ll even find a three-page medical journal’s explanation on alcoholism - in those pages dwelling on the actress’ years of liquor dependency. For an artiste whose life was nothing short of dramatic, this 640-page book strings up several incidents to feed the maw of a curious reader.Romantically linked to a much-married Gemini Ganesan when she was barely in her teens, Savitri had a roller coaster of a relationship with him, which would end 13 years later leaving a bitter taste in her. 

If detailing is the book’s biggest advantage, it’s the chief shortcoming too. Deep focus is fine when it’s about her career front, but it does seem unasked for, say, in sections relating to the Tenali-born actress’ early life and the lives of her kin.Adulation fuels the authors to write, but then they don’t know when to stop. Savitri’s years of courtship with actor Gemini, her secret marriage to him when she was barely 16 years, and her twilight years spent in desolation find detailed explanation, with many sub plots and incidents too. All these lend the book, a UH Publication, an epic-like quality. And thankfully, the writers do offer the pleasures of perspective with first-hand accounts of many actors and fans and their encounters with the actress, apart from a translation of Savitri’s diaries.

Savitri’s decision to run from home and marry her co-star Gemini in the Chamundi Temple in 1952, fearing her uncle-mentor K V Choudary’s opposition to it, and an ugly spat with him when he learns of her marriage keep the spice quotient alive. Media reports of the actress landing up at Gemini Ganesan’s house one night after her fallout with uncle Choudary have been clarified to be true, withchat transcripts with the late actor Gemini Ganesan himself.An incident that shocked the film fraternity was Savitri’s announcement of her marriage to Gemini four years after it happened. This is mentioned in good detail. Now, that makes for a delightful read, given the very little press and resources about it.

In fact, translations of Savitri’s personal diaries by the biographers help empathise with her. The actress announced her wedding only by signing on a product advertisement as Savitri Ganesh, taking the media and her fans by storm. Also provided is a copy of the 1956 Lux ad where a young Savitri smiles sagely. Her love for Gemini’s first wife Alamelu, and her regret over her marriage to him, which later led to her alcohol addiction, are other seldom written about aspects that get mentioned here.

By going beyond her active acting span to write about her in her waning years, the bid is to bring out Savitri more as a person than as an actor in 318 films - in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi too. The firsthand account of a scribe speaks of a businessman (her big fan) who’d  send Savitri a money order for Rs 100 everyday.And the actor selling all her awards to help him start a new business is but one example of the effort by the biographers to make a comprehensive collection of her life. Her last few years, spent in utter isolation, with very little money and poor health, reminisced by many contemporary filmmakers and journalists who met her, is also a revelation. Overall, Savitri’s sense of balance, quality of work and efficiency in whatever she did are apparent. Yet, the work comes across as wanting in these very aspects.