Tollywood The film is a biopic on the legendary actor Savitri and also stars Keerthy Suresh and Dulquer Salman in lead roles. Digital NativeSamantha Akkineni’s next film release will be the multi-lingual biopic of the late legendary actor Savitri, titled Mahanati (Telugu)/Nadigayar Thilagam (Tamil). The shooting of this film is almost over and it is gearing up for release in May. Meanwhile, Samantha’s look in the biopic starring her Dulquer Salmaan and Keerthy Suresh in the lead roles, has been disclosed. “I am happy to be part of this wonderful movie. I like the role of ‘Madhuravani’ and I hope you like it too,” Samantha tweeted. "My name is Savitri’s name in Kanya Shulkam … Madhuravani (BA Gold Medal)," a quote on the poster reads. Really happy to be a part of such a wonderful film . I hope you love #Madhuravani as much as I loved being her #Mahanati @VyjayanthiFilms @nagashwin7 #MahanationMay9th pic.twitter.com/zrCim93nPW — Samantha Akkineni (@Samanthaprabhu2) April 6, 2018 Samantha plays the role Madhuravani, a documentary filmmaker and journalist. According to reports, the story of Savitri will be told from her perspective. It may be mentioned here that Savitri’s role in Kanyasulkam, which was released in 1955, was named Madhuravani. Initially, Samantha was the first choice to play Savitri but the filmmakers felt that a relatively new face would be the right choice following which the role was offered to Keerthy Suresh. The biopic is directed by Nag Ashwin, who made a mark for himself as director with the Telugu movie Yevade Subramanyam. The star cast of Mahanati include Keerthy Suresh as Savitri, Dulquer Salmaan as Gemini Ganesan, Samantha Akkineni as Madhuravani (BA Gold Medal), Prakash Raj as Aluri Chakrapani, Bhanupriya, Vijay Devarakonda and Rajendra Prasad. Dulquer Salmaan makes his Telugu debut with this project. Anup Rubens has composed music for this biopic while Dani Sanchez-Lopez is the cinematographer. The film is bankrolled under the banner Vyjayanthi Movies and is being made on a lavish scale. The project was originally scheduled to release on March 30. However, the makers have confirmed that the film, which is high on visual effects, can’t make it to theatres this month and will be released on May 9. Savitri, one of the versatile actors that the film industry has seen till date, was born on January 4, 1936. She has acted in several films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi film industries in her long career. She made her debut was with the Telugu flick Samsaram in 1950 and her first ever Tamil movie as an actor was a couple of years later with Kalyanam Pannip Paar. She died on December 26, 1981 due to substance abuse. An incredible journey of over an year, gets completed today. I feel emotionally taken aback. Big thanks to @nagashwin7 & @VyjayanthiFilms for their trust in me. We all have something proud to look back. Can’t wait to get her at the theatres#MahanatiOnMay9th @nadigaiyar_offl pic.twitter.com/YtJueraq6s — Keerthy Suresh (@KeerthyOfficial) March 22, 2018 (Content provided by Digital Native.) Also read: Marriage no bar: With 'Rangasthalam', Samantha moves past heroine's stumbling block...