‘Mahanati’: Meet the star cast of the upcoming Savitri biopic

Excited for ‘Mahanati’? So are we. The film has movie audiences eagerly awaiting to see the beloved legendary actress and a formidable cast in action. The film’s roster has been growing for the past few months, adding vets like Mohan Babu, Rajendra Prasad, Prakash Raj, Bhanupriya, Divyavani as well as future powerhouses like Vijay Devarakonda, Dulquer Salmaan, Samantha, Shalini Pandey and Malavika Nair.

After months of anticipation, ‘Mahanati’ is finally hitting theatres today! The Nag Ashwin movie promises to provide all the intense drama, amazing storytelling and phenomenal acting chops that fans can want. In celebration of the May 9, 2018, release of ‘Mahanati’ here's a look at the cast and characters of the biopic.

Everyone will recognise Vijay Devarakonda, who played the title role in ‘Arjun Reddy’ and the carefree engineer, Prasanth, in the romantic comedy ‘Pelli Choopulu’ in 2016. He gained mass popularity after playing a rugged young medico in ‘Arjun Reddy’. In ‘Mahanati’, he plays a journalist Vijay Anthony and will be seen opposite Samantha.

Samantha made her debut in Tollywood with the 2011 film ‘Ye Maya Chesave’ which earned her a Filmfare Award South for Best Female Debut and a Nandi Award. Arguably Jessie was her breakthrough role in the Gautham Menon directorial. She had a well-crafted role as Ramalakshmi in the most recent blockbuster ‘Rangasthalam’. We can catch her in ‘Mahanati’ as an investigative journalist Madhuravani.

Keerthy Suresh broke onto the big scene with her role as Sailaja in the Ram Pothineni starrer ‘Nenu Sailaja’, a performance which landed her laurels and catapulted her fame. Since then, she has appeared in the Nani starrer ‘Nenu Local’ and Pawan Kalyan starrer ‘Agnyaathavaasi’. The audience will catch Keerthy reprising the role of the legendary yesteryear actress Savitri in the film.

Best known for his portrayal of Aadi, ‘Ok Bangaram’, directed by Mani Ratnam. After this, many of his Malayalam films had been dubbed and released in Telugu. Though he has played the lover boy or boy-next-door roles so far, he is no stranger to a biopic. He is starring alongside Keerthy Suresh in ‘Mahanati’, where he plays Savitri’s husband Gemini Ganesan. This is his Telugu film which also has a simultaneous release in Tamil.

Mohan Babu is no stranger to playing legendary characters. The 68-year-old actor built his filmography playing historical greats such as Yama Dharma Raja and Saluva Narasimha Rayalu. He is best known for his roles in some hit films such as ‘Pedarayudu’, ‘Collector Gaaru’, ‘Major Chandrakanth’, ‘Brahma’, ‘Allari Mogudu’, ‘Rowdy Gaari Pellam’, ‘Assembly Rowdy’ and many more. Since then, Mohan has become a bona fide A-lister. The versatile actor went on to star as legendary SV Ranga Rao in ‘Mahanati’ and audience can’t wait see his performance.

Krish made his directorial debut with the 2008 film ‘Gamyam’ which earned him a Nandi Award for Best Director. He has delivered award-winning films like ‘Vedam’, ‘Kanche’ and ‘Gautamiputra Satakarni’. Now he is busy making a Bollywood film ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’ starring Kangana Ranaut. However, he will be seen playing the role of a prominent Indian filmmaker KV Reddy (Kadiri Venkata Reddy), known for his creative work in folklore, social and fantasy films.

Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam hit the right chord with hi 2016 rom-com ‘Pelli Choopulu’ starring Vijay Devarakonda and Ritu Varma in lead roles. The young and talented director made several short films, including ‘Sainma’, ‘Anukokunda’, and ‘The Journey’ before breaking through on the big screen in 2013’s 'Pelli Choopulu'. Now he has landed the role of a noted filmmaker, singer, composer and lyricist Singeetham Srinivasa Rao in the biopic.

Anushka Shetty has created quite a name for herself since she stepped onto the scene as a young and brave woman Arundati in ‘Arundati’. The 36-year-old actress most recently took on the title role in the 2018 horror thriller ‘Bhaagamathie’, to be directed by G Ashok. She also starred in several historical films such as ‘Baahubali’, ‘Rudhramadevi’, ‘Om Namo and Venkatesaya’. Now she reportedly stars as Bhanumathi Ramakrishna, a film actress, filmmaker, book writer and a lyricist in ‘Mahanati’.

Who didn’t like her stint in Vijay Devarakonda starrer ‘Arjun Reddy’? Still, if you don’t know Shalini Pandey, you can watch the Sandeep Reddy Vanga film. She has starred as a young medico who falls deeply in love with her senior Arjun in the film. This is her big break and several filmmakers' eyes are on the young actress. Shalini is reportedly essaying the role of Susheela in the film.

Srinivas Avasarala is fast becoming a Tollywood star. His performance as Anand in Mohan Krishan Indraganti’s ‘Ashta Chamma’ earned him a Filmfare nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He landed several supporting roles in films such as ‘Pilla Zamindar’, ‘Antahku Mundu Aa Tarvatha’, and many more. We already knew that he is a brilliant director, who helmed ‘Oohalu Gusagusalade’ and ‘Jo Achyutananda’. Now, he is playing the great Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner LV Prasad (Akkineni Lakshmi Vara Prasada Rao) in the film.

Malavika Nair is a popular Malayalam actress who made her acting debut in the film ‘Ustad Hotel’ in 2012. She got her female lead debut alongside Mithun Murali in ‘Black Butterfly’ in 2013. She forayed into Tollywood with ‘Yevade Subramanyam’ as Anandi opposite Natural Star Nani. Now she has been roped to play the role of the first wife of Gemini Ganesan Alamelu.

There are also several Tollywood stars like Naga Chaitanya, Jr NTR and Kajal Aggarwal, who will reportedly be seen in making cameos in the film.

‘Mahanati’ hits in theatres on Wednesday, May 9, 2018.