B. Saroja Devi

B. Saroja Devi Biography

B. Saroja Devi has been one of the leading ladies of South Indian Cinema during the era of 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s. She has worked in all south Indian languages except Malayalam and has also done a few Hindi movies. She is referred to as "Abinaya Saraswathi" by Kannada film industry and as "Kannadathu Paingili" by Tamil film industry. Saroja Devi is one of the most successful female film stars in the history of Indian cinema and she was at her career peak during the golden eras of South Indian cinema. Perhaps she was the most sought heroine of Tamil industry during 1960’s and 1970’s. She holds the world record for being the actress with most number of films as the lead heroine-161 films from 1955-1984, without playing supporting roles. She also holds the Indian record of playing lead roles only continuously for 29 years from 1955-1984, perhaps an unbreakable record.

Saroja Devi was born in Karnataka on 7 January 1938. She was formally trained in classical dance at a younger age. She was first spotted by B.R. Krishnamurthy singing at a function at the age of 13. But she declined the offer. But in 1955, she debut silver screen through Kannada movies under the strict instructions given by her father, for using costumes. Her debut movie was Mahakavi Kalidasa which gave her big break to the industry. It was followed by B R Panthulu's Thanga Malai Ragasiyam. She debut Telugu with Panduranga Mahatyam in 1957, where she was paired opposite N.T. Rama Rao. Impressed by her work, Tamil star MGR casted her opposite himself in the movie, Nadodi Manan (1958). Though she was not confident enough as she was not familiar with Tamil, she later learnt this language and became the top heroine of Tamil industry as well. ’Thirudathe’ happened to be her first movie, opposite MGR. But its delayed release made Nadodi mannan her first movie.

She was successfully paired opposite top Tamil actors, MGR, Sivaji Ganeshan and Gemini Ganesan. In fact, she was the top heroine during the decade of 1960’s in Tamil cinema. A few among her noted works include - Manalane Mangayin Bhagyam, Baga Pirivinai, Vidi Velli, Palum Pazhamum, Iruvar Ullam, Kalyana Parisu, Ode Velaiyadu papa and Kairasi. She was successfully paired opposite Dr. Rajkumar in Kannada and NTR and ANR in Telugu. After her marriage, she concentrated most on Kannada and Telugu movies. She made her Hindi debut opposite Dilip Kumar in Paigam (1959). She has been honoured with numerous awards and honours by film industry as well as Central and state governments.

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Updated: July 04, 2018