Savithri

Sati Savitri (listed on our site as Savithri) is a 1933 Telugu mythological film directed by C. Pullayya and the first production of the East India Film Company in Calcutta. Based on a popular stage play by the Mylavaram Bala Bharathi Samajam, it retells the story of Savitri and Satyavan from the Aranya Parva of the Mahabharata, with stage actors Vemuri Gaggayya as Yama and Dasari Ramathilakam as Savitri. Released on 5 February 1933, it was a hit, made Gaggayya a major star, and received an honorary diploma at the 2nd Venice International Film Festival.

What the story is about

King Aswapati of Madra and Queen Malavi have no children for many years until, by the grace of the goddess Savitri, a daughter is born to them and named after her. Savitri grows into a lovely young woman who often describes to her companion Vasantika the man she has seen in her dreams. One day, chasing her runaway pet deer into the forest, she finds it in the keeping of Prince Satyavanta, son of King Dyumatsena, and recognises him as the man of her dreams. The sage Narada urges her parents to arrange the marriage, but also tells Savitri that her husband is destined to die young, and the film follows her devotion and her famous confrontation with Yama, the god of death.

Cast

• Dasari Ramathilakam as Savitri
• Nidumukkala Subbarao as Satyavanta
• Vemuri Gaggayya as Yama
• Govindaraju Venkata Ramayya as Aswapati and Parvati Bai as Malavi
• Dharmapuri Buchiraju as Dyumatsena
• Parupalli Satyanarayana as Narada
• Lalitha as Vasantika and Chirravuri Dikshitulu as Saradvata

Making and release

According to The Hindu, the film was made in Calcutta on a lavish budget of ₹75,000. Its release coincided with another Sati Savitri, directed by H. M. Reddy in Bombay, but Pullayya’s version was the one that succeeded, as NTV and Indiancine.ma record. Gaggayya’s Yama was widely acclaimed. Wikipedia also describes it as an industry hit and the first Telugu film to earn more than ₹2 lakh in distributors’ share, on a gross of ₹3 lakh, but cites no source for those figures, so we report them only as Wikipedia’s claims.

Recognition

The film was recognised abroad as well as at home, receiving an honorary diploma at the 2nd Venice International Film Festival, according to the book So Many Cinemas: The Motion Picture in India.

Where to watch Sati Savitri

We do not have a confirmed streaming platform for Sati Savitri on file. The OTT details on this page will be updated when a platform’s own listing confirms it.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Sati Savitri and the sources it cites, linked above; Wikidata; our own records.