Actor Kamal Haasan has been in the film industry for a little over 60 years now and has worked with stars and directors of various skill levels in his career. Therefore, when he makes a claim about an actor's capabilities in their own area of expertise or elsewhere, it becomes a piece of opinion with plenty of significance. Take what he said at the recent Manorama Hortus festival, for example. The actor recently revealed that he found Savitri to be a better director as compared to the directors she worked with. Speaking at the literature and art festival, Kamal said that he saw Savitri as his mother-like figure and that she "was capable of directing films" in better ways than her own filmmakers.

Savitri made her directorial debut with 1968's Telugu film Chinnari Papalu, starring Jaggayya, Jamuna, and Sowcar Janaki. She also directed the Tamil film Kuzhanthai Ullam, a remake of Chinnari Papalu, starring Gemini Ganesan, Vanisri, and Sowcar Janaki. However, she did not direct any other film.

Kamal suggested that Savitri could not direct many films because of the chauvinism in the film industry. "She was playing dumb. That was yet another role she was playing in a male chauvinistic society," Kamal said.

Kamal also argued that the presence of female audiences in the theatre for a film is the decisive factor in its eventual success or failure. "If the ladies do not come to the theatre, it will go for some time. But afterwards, they must come; otherwise, there will not be any business," the actor revealed.