A glimpse into the world of a true Cinema - Mahanati 176.36. Wondering what is this number? It was the first thing that caught my attention as soon as I sat in the theatre. A day before the film released, I was excited and curious to see how a 1 film old director could tell the story of the greatest actress of the South Indian Film Industry. In the theatre, when I saw the runtime of the film I was startled. It was close to 3 hours! 176.36 minutes (runtime)! I prepared myself not to expect anything or jump to conclusions as not much was shown and spoken about the film; apart from a 1-minute Teaser, which was intriguing for sure! Though I loved the teaser, I was doubtful about how this film could hook on to so many generations. The story was about the “Mahanati” Savitri, who was an actress from the ’50s to ’70s in South Indian cinema. My parents grew up watching her. So, I went to the theatre with my full family and yes the f...