Legendary Actor B Saroja Devi, First Female Superstar Of Kannada Cinema, Passes Away At 87

Veteran actress B Saroja Devi breathed her last on Monday (July 14), at her residence in Malleswaram, Bengaluru, due to age-related illness, reported PTI. She was 87. The legendary multilingual actor was a renowned figure in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi cinema.

B Saroja Devi career

Fondly called 'Kannadathu Paingili' (Kannada’s parrot) in Tamil and 'Abhinaya Saraswathi' in Kannada (the Saraswathi of acting), Saroja Devi made her acting debut at the age of 17, with the Kannada film Mahakavi Kalidasa (1955).

The cinema icon had acted in over 200 films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi languages. She is also known as the first female superstar of Kannada cinema, and was the first Kannada female actor to earn the title Chaturbhasha Taare (Four-language Star).

She worked with South stars including legendary actor and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M G Ramachandran, Shivaji and Gemini Ganesan. Her Tamil film Nadodi Mannan (1958), with MGR, made her one of the top actresses of Tamil cinema.

MGR-Saroja Devi's pair was superhit. Together they gave 26 back-to-back blockbusters including Thirudathe (1961), Thaai Sollai Thattadhe (1961), Paasam (1962), Kudumba Thalaivan (1962), Maadappura (1962), Thayai Katha Thanayan (1963), Dharmam Thalai Kaakkum (1963), Needhikkuppin Paasam (1963), Dheiva Thaai (1964).

With Sivaji Ganesan, Saroja Devi gave 22 hits, and worked in 17 movies with Gemini Ganesan.

In Telugu cinema, Saroja made her debut with Panduranga Mahatyam (1957), and delivered several successful films like Seetarama Kalyanam (1961), Jagadeka Veeruni Katha (1961) and Daagudu Moothalu (1964) opposite NT Rama Rao.

She has also contributed to the Hindi cinema by acting in films like Paigham (1959) , Opera House (1961), Sasural (1961) and Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya (1963).

The towering legend was conferred with the Padma Shri in 1969, and Padma Bhushan in 1992. In 2008, she was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Government of India.

Apart from her acting career, Saroja also served as vice-president of the Kannada Chalanchitra Sangha and chaired the jury for the 53rd National Film Awards.

B Saroja Devi's early life, marriage

Born in Bangalore, Mysore (now Bengaluru, Karnataka) on January 7, 1938 in a Vokkaliga family, B. Saroja Devi was the fourth daughter of Bhairappa, a police officer and Rudramma, a homemaker. She married Sri Harsha, an engineer, on March 1, 1967. He passed away in 1986.