Savithri was a 1941 Tamil blockbuster starring the great queen of Carnatic music Madam M. S. Subbulakshmi as mythological sage Narada with the Hindi-Marathi legendary singing star Madam Shanta Apte who was also classicaly trained in not only music but also dance, as princess Savithri.
The songs were a real beauty mostly composed by then famous Papanasam Sivam. Shanta Apte sang 10 songs (8 solos and 2 duets with director actor and hero of this movie – Y. V. Rao) and M. S. had 6 solos. Apart from this Chinnaiya playing the role of Hindu God of death – Yama had 1 solo and comedian pair Vinoth and Menaka had one duet.
Shanta Apte was so devoted to her carrier that unlike present-day actresses, she learnt Tamil just to act and sing in the film. Also it was brave of the hero and director of this movie Y. V. Rao to cast a Hindi-Marathi actress in a Tamil movie and M. S. in a male role. Y. V. Rao played the role of Savithri’s husband Sathyavan.
====================================================