• Veteran South Indian actor B. Saroja Devi passed away in Bengaluru on July 14. She was 87. 

• Saroja Devi was born on January 7, 1938 in Bengaluru.

• She made her debut when she was 17-years-old in Kannada film ‘Mahakavi Kalidasa’ (1955).

• She went on to become a legend in not just Kannada, but also Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. 

• She has acted in about 200 films. 

• Saroja Devi was popularly known as ‘Kannadathu Payinkili’ (Kannada’s parrot).

• It was in Tamil cinema that she shone the brightest, particularly alongside M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), the iconic Tamil superstar and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

• After her first movie with MGR in the blockbuster ‘Nadodi Mannan’ (1958), Saroja Devi went on to do 26 films opposite him.

• The popular song ‘Rajavin Paarvai Raniyin Pakkam’ in the movie ‘Anbe Vaa’ which has MGR and Saroja Devi riding on a chariot, is popular even today. 

• Her crackling chemistry with her heroes made her a favourite choice of reigning superstars of the time — from MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, and Dr Rajkumar to N.T. Rama Rao (NTR).

• Her enduring screen presence remained undimmed even alongside stars like Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala, who played the lead in her debut Hindi film ‘Paigham’ (1959). 

• She went on to act in films like ‘Sasural’ (1961) with Rajendra Kumar, ‘Beti Bete’ (1964) with Sunil Dutt and ‘Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kiya’ (1963) with Shammi Kapoor. 

• Saroja Devi also achieved success in Telugu films, following her debut in 1957 in ‘Panduranga Mahatyam’, in which she starred alongside NTR and Akkineni Nageswara Rao. 

• Eventually, NTR would cast her as the female lead in his directorial debut film ‘Seetarama Kalyanam’ (1961). 

• She starred in the first Kannada film shot entirely in colour, ‘Amarashilpi Jakanachaari’, a 1964 biographical film of a legendary 12th Indian sculptor. 

• She married Sri Harsha in 1967, who passed away in 1986. 

• Saroja Devi was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1969 and the Padma Bhushan in 1992. 

• She received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 from the President.

• She also won many state awards, including the prestigious Kalaimamani Lifetime Achievement award by the Tamil Nadu government in 2009.

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