Mahanati

Mahanati
Directed by	Nag Ashwin
Starring	Dulquer Salmaan Keerthy Suresh Samantha Vijay Deverakonda Shalini Pandey
Cinematography	Dani Sanchez-Lopez
Music by	Mickey J Meyer
Production company	Vyjayanthi Movies
Release date	2018
Country	India
Languages	Telugu Tamil

Mahanati is an upcoming multilingual Indian biographical film written directed by Nag Ashwin, based on the life of South Indian actress Savitri. Starring Dulquer Salman, Keerthy Suresh, Samantha and Vijay Deverakonda in the lead roles, the film is a Telugu-Tamil bilingual, titled in the latter language as Nadigayar Thilagam. The bilingual began production during May 2017.

Cast

• Dulquer Salmaan as Gemini Ganesan
• Keerthy Suresh as Savitri
• Samantha Ruth Prabhu as Jamuna
• Shalini Pandey as journalist
• Vijay Deverakonda
• Prakash Raj as Aluri Chakrapani
• Rajendra Prasad

Production

In May 2016, director Nag Ashwin, who had previously made Yevade Subramanyam (2016), announced that his next film would be a biopic of South Indian actress Savitri and that it would be shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil. Titled Mahanati, Ashwin revealed that he had finished work on the script and was in the middle of casting actors to be a part of the project. During the pre-production phase, Ashwin spent six months in research by reading articles and books, while meeting old journalists and actors who had been associated with the actress. Explaining why he chose to turn Savitri's career into a film script, he stated "from a penniless origin to the first female superstar, her life is quite a story" and that it was a "moment in time where it has been long enough that film legends have left us" and "that we will have to revisit them and understand why they are legends". Soon after the announcement of the film, the media carried speculative reports that either Anushka Shetty, Sonakshi Sinha or Vidya Balan would be cast in the lead role. Denying the developments in August 2016, Ashwin stated he was still editing the script and intended to cast the lead actress with an audience poll.

The team continued to hold talks with actresses for the lead role, and despite extended discussions with Nithya Menen, the actress did not agree to sign the film. Samantha was the first lead actor to be cast in the film during December 2016 and revealed she would portray a character from whose point of view the story is narrated, rather than the role of Savitri. Reports also suggested that she may be appearing as another actress from the era, Jamuna, a close friend of Savitri. Subsequently, Keerthy Suresh was cast in the lead role of Savitri in early January 2017. The film's first look poster featuring both actresses was released in March 2017 to coincide with International Women's Day. For the role of Gemini Ganesan, Savitri's husband, Ashwin had considered Suriya or Madhavan, before finalising Dulquer Salmaan for the character. Vijay Deverakonda, who had also earlier been considered for Gemini Ganesan's role, was then selected to portray another role opposite Samantha in the film.

The principal shoot of the biopic began on 29 May 2017 at Ramakrishna Studios in Hyderabad, with the Telugu title confirmed as Mahanati and the Tamil title as Nadigaiyar Thilagam. Actor Rajendra Prasad joined the cast during the first schedule, while Mickey J Meyer and Dani Sanchez-Lopez were confirmed as music composer and cinematographer respectively. Ashwin revealed that Dulquer's portrayal of Gemini Ganesan would go beyond just the physical resemblance and the character's emotional side would also be depicted. Keerthy Suresh was requested to put on weight for the film and shot for a vintage song in early June 2017 as a part of the first schedule. Prakash Raj also joined the team in August 2017 to allegedly play the role of producer Aluri Chakrapani.