Doctor Savithri

Plot

Savithri is a doctor who treats the poor for free. When she discovers that a young rich woman in their community is being harassed by a dishonest lawyer, she and her husband endeavour to help the woman. Later, the lawyer is murdered by an unknown assailant and Savithri's husband is suspected of the crime. Savithri investigates the murder and identifies the true killer as a doctor who had been blackmailed by the lawyer.

Cast

Credits adapted from The Hindu:

Production

In 1941, a Tamil language film based on the Hindu story of Savitri and Satyavan, titled Savithri was released. More than a decade later, T. G. Raghavachari sought to create a new adaptation of the story but with a modern setting. Titled Doctor Savithri, the film's story and screenplay was written by Raghavachari and it was directed by R. M. Krishnaswamy and produced by M. Radhakrishnan under the banner Aruna Films. Krishnaswamy also served as the cinematographer, while Raghavan was the art director, and R. M. Venugopal was the editor. Raghavachari wrote the dialogues, along with A. K. Velan and Elangovan. Roy Chowdary, Muthuswamy Pillai (Sayee Subbulakshmi) and Gopalakrishnan were in charge of the choreography. The film was processed at AVM Studios.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by G. Ramanathan and lyrics by Udumalai Narayana Kavi, A. Maruthakasi and Mayavaram Vethanayagam Pillai

Reception

The success of Doctor Savithri assisted in establishing Aruna Films as a leading production company in the 1950s Tamil film industry. Film historian Randor Guy stated the film would be remembered for "the interesting storyline, brilliant performance of Anjali Devi and excellent photography of RMK."