

Mahanati depicts the life and career of one of Telugu cinema's greatest and most iconic starlets, the first Indian female super star, Savitri.
Acting
Keerthy Suresh doesn't play Savitri — she resurrects her.
Production
Recreated 1950s Madras film sets with obsessive period detail.
Cinematography
Black-and-white sequences melt into color like fractured memories.

Director
Nag Ashwin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Keerthy Suresh gained 20kg and learned classical dance for two years; Savitri's actual relatives wept on set believing she'd returned.
Savitri was the first female South Indian star to command equal pay and direct — her fall coincided with the industry's pivot to male-driven masala cinema.