Savitri Ganesan was an Indian actress, singer, and filmmaker known for her works primarily in Telugu and Tamil films. She was one of the highest-paid and most popular Indian actresses in the 1950s and '60s. She was one of the most accomplished and respected actresses of all time in South India. She is popularly known by the epithets Mahanati in Telugu and Nadigaiyar Thilagam in Tamil.

Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hyderabad. As of 2021, Telugu cinema is the largest film industry in India in terms of box-office. Telugu films sold 23.3 crore tickets in 2022, the highest among various film industries in India.