Iconic South Indian actress Saroja Devi passes away

NEW DELHI: Legendary south Indian actor B. Saroja Devi (pic) passed away, after battling age-related illness, at her residence in Bengaluru on Monday (July 14).

She was 87 and is survived by two daughters and two sons. She was born on Jan 7, 1938.

A towering figure in South Indian cinema, she had worked in over 200 films and is known as ‘Abhinaya Saraswathi’ (goddess of acting) and ‘Kannadathu Paingili’ (parrot from Karnataka).

A towering figure in South Indian cinema, Saroja Devi worked in over 200 films – IANS/Karnataka CM office

A highly successful reigning star in Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu as well as Hindi, she had acted as the female lead opposite iconic film heroes MG Ramachandran (MGR), Sivaji Ganesan, and Dr Rajkumar.

Starting her film career at the age of 17, in ‘Mahakavi Kalidas’ (1955), she rose to stardom with ‘Nadodi Mannan’ (1958) (Vagabond and the King), which was also a turning point in filmdom for MGR, who went on to launch the AIADMK and became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. It cemented her place in Tamil cinema.

Prior to the arrival of Jayalalithaa as the pair for MGR in movies, she was the staple pair for the iconic actor-turned-politician, and both have delivered many memorable box-office hits. Some of them are ‘Anbe Vaa’, ‘Arasa Kattalai’, ‘Thai Sollai Thattaadhe’, ‘Thayai Kaatha Thanayan’, Dharmam Thalai Kakum’, ‘Needhikkup Pin Pasam’, and ‘Enga Veettu Pillai’.

Her classic Kannada movies include ‘Kittur Chennamma’ and ‘Anna Thamma’. She has been honoured with the Padma Bhushan.

The late Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna, a tennis buff, had admitted his love for Saroja Devi, but the marriage failed to take place. – The Statesman/ANN