B. Saroja Devi

Bhairappa Saroja Devi
popularly known as B. Saroja Devi (born 7 January 1938), is an Indian actress who has acted in Kannada,Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies. She acted in around 200 films in over six decades. She is known by the epithets ""Abhinaya Saraswathi" (Saraswathi of acting) in Kannada and "Kannadathu Paingili"" (Kannada's Parrot) in Tamil.
At the age of 17, Saroja Devi got her big break with her movie, the Kannada film "Mahakavi Kalidasa" (1955). In Telugu cinema, she made her debut with "Panduranga Mahatyam" (1959), and starred in a number of successful films until the late 1970s. The Tamil film "Nadodi Mannan" (1958) made her one of the top actresses in Tamil cinema. After her marriage in 1967, she continued to be the second in demand actress in Tamil films till 1974, but she continued to be one of the top actresses in Telugu and Kannada cinema from 1958 until the 1980s. She also starred in Hindi films until the mid-1960s, starting with "Paigham" (1959).
She played the lead heroine in 161 consecutive films in 29 years between 1955 and 1984. Saroja Devi received the Padma Sri, the fourth-highest civilian honour, in 1969 and Padma Bhushan, third highest civilian award, in 1992 from the Government of India, honorary doctorate from Bangalore University and Kalaimamani award from Tamil Nadu.
Early life.
Saroja Devi was born in Bangalore, Kingdom of Mysore (now Bengaluru, Karnataka) on 7 January 1938. Her father Bhairappa worked for the police department, and her mother Rudramma was a homemaker. She was their fourth daughter. Bhairappa asked her to learn dancing, and encouraged her to take up acting as a career. A young Saroja Devi was accompanied often by her father to studios and he would patiently tie on her salangais and massage her swollen feet after her dancing stints. Her mother gave her a strict dress code: no swimsuits and no sleeveless blouses, which she followed for the rest of her career. She was first spotted by B.R. Krishnamurthy when she was singing at a function at the age of 13, but she declined the film offer.
Career.
Rise to stardom.
Saroja Devi's debut movie and also her first major success was Honnappa Bhagavatar's Kannada film "Mahakavi Kalidasa" (1955), in which she played a supporting role. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada. Next, she acted in B. R. Panthulu's Tamil film "Thangamalai Ragasiyam" (1957), in which she performed a dance sequence.
Subsequently, she was noted by M. G. Ramachandran (MGR), who cast her as the female lead in "Nadodi Mannan" (1958), the movie that made her one of the most popular actresses in Tamil Nadu. She was then signed up for the Hindi film "Paigham" (1959), in which her co-stars included Dilip Kumar. She went on to work in other leading Hindi actors, including Rajendra Kumar in "Sasural" (1961), Sunil Dutt in "Beti Bete" (1964) and Shammi Kapoor in "Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya" (1963). She also shot a few scenes with Raj Kapoor for "Nazrana" (1961), but was replaced by Vyjayanthimala after a conflict with the director C. V. Sridhar.
Following the success of "Nadodi Mannan", she was also cast opposite the leading Tamil actors of that time: with Gemini Ganesan in "Kalyana Parisu" (1959), with Sivaji Ganesan in "Bhaaga Pirivinai" (1959) and again with MGR in "Thirudadhe" (1961). Her involvement in Tamil films also continued with superhits like "Palum Pazhamum" (1961), "Vazhkai Vazhvatharke" (1964), "Aalayamani" (1962), "Periya Idathu Penn" (1963), "Puthiya Paravai" (1964), "Panakkara Kudumbam" (1964), "Enga Veetu Pillai" (1965) and "Anbe Vaa" (1966). She came to be known as a "lucky mascot" for MGR films and acted with him in 26 films.
Her early successes in Kannada cinema included "Chintamani" (1957), "School Master" (1958) and "Jagajyothi Basveshwara" (1959). Her role as a patriotic anti-British queen in the Kannada "Kittooru Rani Chennamma" (1961) was widely acclaimed. In 1964, she and Kalyan Kumar acted in the first full-fledged Kannada colour movie "Amarashilpi Jakanachaari".
Saroja Devi also achieved success in Telugu films, starring opposite N. T. Rama Rao in "Seetarama Kalyanam" (1961), "Jagadeka Veeruni Katha" (1961) and "Daagudu Moothalu" (1964). "Amara Shilpi Jakkanna" (1964, remake of Kannada film) and "Rahasyam", her film "Pelli Kaanuka" (1960) with Akkineni Nageswara Rao, were also successful. The first Telugu film featured dubbing; wherein, Krishna Kumari dubbed her voice in "Panduranga Mahatyam" (1957). But in the subsequent years, Saroja Devi learnt Telugu language. Her Hindi films included "Sasural" (1960), "Opera House" (1961), "Pareeksha", "Hong Kong" (1962) and "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya" (1963), which became successful. In 1962 she was crowned "Chaturbhaasha Taare", because of her popularity in these four languages.
The pair of MGR-Saroja Devi gave 26 back-to-back hit films together, which included 1: "Nadodi Mannan" (1958), 2: "Thirudathe" (1961), 3: "Thaai Sollai Thattadhe" (1961), 4: "Paasam" (1962), 5: "Kudumba Thalaivan" (1962), 6: "Maadappura" (1962), 7: "Thayai Katha Thanayan" (1963), 8: "Dharmam Thalai Kaakkum" (1963), 9: "Needhikkuppin Paasam" (1963), 10: "Dheiva Thaai" (1964), 11: "Padagotti" (1964), 12: "Aasai Mugam" (1965), 13: "Nadodi" (1966), 14: "Thali Bhagyam" (1966), 15: "Naan Aanaiyittal" (1966), 16: "Petralthan Pillaiya" (1966) and 17: "Arasa Kattalai" (1967). Her best performances opposite MGR were the "rich girl" roles: 18: "Panathottam" (1963), 19: "Periya Idathu Penn" (1963), 20: "Panakkara Kudumbam" (1964), 21: "En Kadamai" (1964), 22: "Thaayin Madiyil" (1964), 23: "Enga Veettu Pillai" (1965), 24: "Kalangarai Vilakkam" (1965), 25: "Anbe Vaa" (1966) and 26: "Parakkum Paavai" (1966). The women adored her dressing sense and her saris and blouses, ornaments, hairstyles were copied by girls and women.
In the 1960s, Saroja Devi became a fashion icon among the South Indian women, who mimicked her saris, blouses, jewellery, hairstyles and mannerisms. In particular, her saris and jewellery from the Tamil movies "Enga Veettu Pillai" (1965) and "Anbe Vaa" (1966) were popularized widely in magazines.
The pairing of Sivaji Ganesan and Saroja Devi gave 22 back-to-back hit movies: 1: "Thangamalai Ragasiyam" (1957), 2: "Sabaash Meena" (1958), 3: "Engal Kudumbam Perisu" (1958), 4: "Bhaaga Pirivinai" (1959), 5: "School Master (Hindi)" (1959), 6: "Irumbu Thirai" (1960), 7: "Vidivelli" (1960), 8: "Palum Pazhamum" (1961), 9: "Paarthaal Pasi Theerum" (1962), 10: "Valar Pirai" (1962), 11: "Aalayamani" (1962), 12: "Kulamagal Radhai" (1963), 13: "Iruvar Ullam" (1963), 14: "Kalyaniyin Kanavan" (1963) and 15: "Puthiya Paravai" (1964)
Post-marriage career.
After 1968, Saroja Devi's career in Tamil cinema gradually declined, and she became more active in Kannada movies. With her marriage in 1967 and the rise of younger heroines like K. R. Vijaya and Jayalalithaa producers stopped pairing her opposite MGR. Her last film with MGR was "Arasa Kattalai" (1967), which also starred Jayalalithaa. She continued starring in Tamil movies opposite Sivaji Ganesan after her marriage: 16: "En Thambi" (1968), 17: Anbalippu (1969), 18: Anjal Petti 520 (1969), 19: Arunodhayam (1971), 20: Thenum Paalum (1971), 21: Paarambariyam (1993) and 22: "Once More" (1997).
She worked with Gemini Ganesan in "Pen Endral Pen" (1967), "Panama Pasama" (1968), "Thamarai Nenjam" (1968), "Ainthu Latcham" (1969), "Thanga Malar" (1969), "Kula Vilakku" (1969), "Malathi" (1970) and "Kann Malar" (1970).
With Ravichandran she acted in the successful films "Odum Nadhi" (1969), "Snegithi" (1970), "Malathi" (1970), and "Pathu Matha Bandham" (1974).
With R. Muthuraman, she starred in "Arunodhayam" (1971), "Uyir" (1971) and "Pathu Matha Bandham" (1974), which was her last Tamil film as a lead actor until 1985.
She continued to be among the highest-paid actresses in Kannada and Telugu films. She was cast opposite the leading actor Dr. Rajkumar in several Kannada films, including "Mallammana Pavada" (1969), "Nyayave Devaru" (1971), "Sri Srinivasa Kalyana" (1974), "Babruvahana" (1977) and "Bhagyavantharu" (1977). Her other successful films from this period include "Thande Makkalu" (1971), "Papa Punya" (1971), "Gunavanthudu" (1975), "Katha Sangama" (1976), "Sri Renukadevi Mahathme" (1977), with Chiranjeevi, then with Vishnuvardhan in "Shani Prabhava" (1977) and "Rudranaga" (1984).
In Telugu cinema, she was cast opposite N. T. Rama Rao in films like "Bhagyachakram" (1968), "Uma Chandi Gowri Sankarula Katha" (1968), "Vijayam Manade" (1970), "Mayani Mamatha" (1970), Shakuntala and "Daana Veera Soora Karna" (1979).
In her long career she chiefly opted for romantic films only in the 1960s and later sentimental and socially relevant films right from the late 1960s to the 1980s. "Sri Renukadevi Mahathme", a Kannada film released in 1977 was Saroja Devi's 150th film in her career and by 1984, she had completed 161 films as the main lead heroine, without ever playing supporting roles. Yarivanu, in Kannada, was the 161st film, in which she played the main lead heroine.
After husband's death.
Saroja Devi signed up for the film "Ladies Hostel" in 1985, but stopped shooting after her husband fell ill. He subsequently died in 1986, and she resumed shooting only in 1987. The film was successful, but Saroja Devi refused to sign up for any more films. She completed the 8 films that she had accepted before 1986, and these films were released during 1987–1990. These included "Thaimel Aanai" (1988) and "Dharma Devan" (1989).
She returned to acting on insistence by film producers and her fans. She starred opposite Sivaji Ganesan in "Parambariyam" (1993), and then performed a few roles as a supporting actress. In Kannada films, her notable supporting performances included her roles in "Anuraga Sangama" (1995) and "Agni IPS" (1997). She and Sivaji Ganesan acted in the Tamil film "Once More" (1997), which also includes scenes from their 1963 film "Iruvar Ullam". Her latest film in Tamil was the film "Aadhavan" (2009), in which she played a judge's mother.
Twice in 1998 and 2005, Saroja Devi chaired 45th National Film Awards and 53rd National Film Awards jury. She served as the vice-president of Kannada Chalanchitra Sangha, and as a member of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams's local advisory committee. She runs a successful business. She also served as the Chairperson of the Karnataka Film Development Corporation, which had been set up as a private limited company by her and a few other film personalities in 1972.
Saroja Devi is now settled in Bangalore, where she is involved in social work. She has organized many donation camps in the name of her husband and her mother. She is also involved with charitable trusts, rehabilitation centers and health programs.
Her most recent work is "Natasaarvabhowma", which released in 2019.
Personal life.
Saroja Devi had an arranged marriage with Sri Harsha, a Bharat Electronics engineer, on 1 March 1967. At that time, she was facing a financial crisis and income tax troubles. Her husband helped her overcome these problems, and taught her how to manage her finances.
When she was asked in an interview as to how she did not discontinue acting due to her mother's insistence after 1967, she quoted: "Dilip Kumar once said he has asked Saira Banu to not to stop acting profession. The same thing was mentioned by Rajesh Khanna to my husband Sri Harsha not to stop me from acting.". Her husband hence encouraged her to continue acting from 1970, and their marriage lasted till his death in 1986.
Saroja Devi's children included her daughter Bhuvaneshwari and two grandchildren Indira and Gautam. Bhuvaneshwari was her niece, and had been adopted by her. Bhuvaneshwari died young, and Saroja Devi sponsors the "Bhuvaneshwari Award" for literature in her memory.
Awards and honors.
National awards
State awards
Other awards
B. Saroja Devi National Award.
In 2010, "Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan" instituted Padma Bhushan B. Saroja Devi National Award, a lifetime achievement award to honour artists in the field of performing arts, annually. The recipients of the award including K. J. Yesudas, Vyjayantimala, Anjali Devi, Ambareesh, Jayanthi and others.