Mahanati (transl. The great actress) is a 2018 Indian bilingual biographical film written and directed by Nag Ashwin. It was produced by Priyanka Dutt under the banners Vyjayanthi Movies and Swapna Cinema and made simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil, with the latter titled Nadigaiyar Thilagam (transl. Champion of actresses). The film stars Keerthy Suresh, Dulquer Salmaan (in his Telugu debut), Samantha Akkineni and Vijay Devarakonda. It follows the life of Indian actress Savitri (Keerthy), depicting her turbulent rise to prominence, marriage with Gemini Ganesan (Salmaan), and subsequent fall from grace, viewed from the perspective of a journalist (Akkineni) and a photographer (Deverakonda).
Production began in May 2017, cinematography fell under the vision of Dani Sanchez-Lopez, and music for the film is composed by Mickey J. Meyer. Mahanati was released on 9 May 2018, and Nadigaiyar Thilagam on 11 May 2018.[4] The film was also dubbed in Malayalam. It opened to critical and commercial acclaim;[5] it was showcased in the Indian Panorama Mainstream section at the 49th International Film Festival of India,[6] and has also garnered the “Equality in Cinema Award” at the 2018 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.[7]
At the 66th National Film Awards 2019, the film won three awards, including Best Feature Film in Telugu and Best Actress for Keerthy.[8]