Bay Area Telugu Association (BATA) hosted special program on the occasion of Mahanati Savitri garu birthday on December 6th at Athidhi Restaurant, Sunnyvale, California. Telugu Association of North America (TANA) co-sponsored the program. To celebrate the memories of Savitru garu, a special Telugu Karaoke program consists of her songs and other popular songs was organized, and more than 30 singers sang & paid rich tributes to the one of the greatest actors on all times.

Sri. Jayaram Komati (TANA president) was the chief guest. As special guests, Savitri gari’s son Sathish, and the book author Murthy Vadrevu garu attended the program. During this special occasion, a book titled “A legendary actress: Mahanati Savitri” was released by her son Sathish.

The program started around 7:30 pm. Vijaya Aasuri (BATA advisor) served as “Master of Ceremonies” and welcomed all the attendees and introduced the guests to the audience. She said Savitri garu is a legendary figure in Telugu / Tamil movies. Venu Aasuri made an opening speech highlighting the Savitri gari movies and her action. He described that Savitri garu was one the best actress who could play her role by immersing herself into it.

The song selection was a feast to the audience as most of the songs were very popular Telugu melodies. Majority of the songs were from 50’s and 60’s & which are very well known to the audience. The singers expressed their love and affections towards the “Mahanati” through their songs, such as: Evandoi Srivaru (Manchi Manasulu), Janani Sivakaamini (Nartanasala), Aha Naa Pellianta (MayaBazaar), Kala Kaanidi (Velugu Needalu), Alalayana Velasina (Devatha) were preseneted.

The Highlight of the evening was special program presented by BATA singers consisting of Prasad Durvasula, Venu Aasuri, Murali Sambara, Prasad Mangina, Ujwal, Hema Kota, Sudha, Prashanti, Pratusha, Himaja & Yuthika. They sang the following songs:

Aligina Velana Choodali (Gundamma Katha),

Neevu Lekha Veena (Dr.Chakravarthy),

Aha Naa Pelli anta (Maya Bazaar),

Oho Meghamala (Bhale Raamudu),

Akasa Vidilo (Mangalya Balam),

Raavoi Chandama (Missamma),

Chiguraakualo Chilakamma (Donga Raamudu),

Nee Chileme (Aradhana),

Sakhiya Vivarinchave (Nartanasala),

Himagiri Sogasulu (Pandava Vanavasam).

Niharika enacted for the song “Aha Naa pelli nata” . Srilu and Sirisha presented dances for “Oh Rangayyo .. poola Rangayyo” and “Oho Basti dorasani” songs.

The audience thoroughly enjoyed this program & and showered their appreciation. Singers also sang superhits like Paruvam Vaanaga (Roja) , Anjali Anjali (Anjali), Mallelu Pooche (Intinti Ramayana), Naa Hrudayamlo (Dr. Chakravarthy) & Siva’s Astakam. Ravi Gudipati sang Vandanam Abhivandanam (Premabhi Sekham). Sathish (Savitri gari son) surprised everyone by singing “Oo Papa lali” (Geetanjali).

The main program started with Vijaya garu inviting the guests on to the stage. Prasad Mangina (BATA president) greeted the audience and welcomed the guests. Speaking on this occasion prasad said Savitri garu acted in a “Golden Period” in telugu film industry acting in some of the “Evergreen” super hits to her credit and will have a special place forever in all telugu’s hearts.

Sathish Kumaar (Savitri gari son) released the book and gave the first copy to Jaya Ram garu. Speaking on the occasion Jaya Ram garu said all telugu’s should be proud about Savitri garu and he is extremely happy to be associated with this program.

Sathish thanked BATA for organizing a wonderful program and he shared some of the sweet memories of his mother. He said there are so many false rumors and said she always lived very well and with integrity. He specially thanked Murthy garu for all his efforts in publishing such a great book. Later Murthy garu spoke at length and shared his experiences. Murthy garu personally met various actors like ANR Garu, Jamuna, Gummadi garu, Dasari garu and many of Savitri gari’s close relatives and covered their interviews and experiences extensively in the book. There are many vintage pictures in the book which brought nostalgic memories to everyone.

BATA committee consisting of Prasad Mangina, Srilu Veligeti, Srinivas Kolli, Ramesh Konda, Srinivas Mangipudi, Vijaya Aasuri, Sirisha, Kamesh, Sai Kumar, Venkat and Veeru Vuppala thanked all the audience for making this program a grand success. They specially thanked all the volunteers (Ujwal, Vihar, Srikar, Raghu & Ramana ) and also Srini and Sam from Athidhi restaurant for their support. Ex-BATA Committee members like Ravi Thiruveedula, Karun Veligeti, Kalyan Kattamuri, Srinivas Pinapala etc also attended the program