Saroja Devi Marriage

[Julia Kozub]

BangaloreSaroja Devi (born 7 January 1938) is an Indian actress who has acted in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. She acted in around 200 films over seven decades.[2][3] She is known by the epithets "Abhinaya Saraswathi" (Saraswathi of acting) in Kannada and "Kannadathu Paingili" (Kannada's Parrot) in Tamil.[4][3] She is one of the most successful actresses in the history of Indian cinema.

She is the only Indian actress to play lead heroine in 161 consecutive films[5] 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.

Saroja Devi was born in Bangalore, Kingdom of Mysore (now Bengaluru, Karnataka) on 7 January 1938 in a Vokkaliga family.[6][7] Her father Bhairappa was a police officer in Mysore, 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.[8] Her mother gave her a strict dress code: no swimsuits and no sleeveless blouses, which she followed for the rest of her career.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] She is one of the very few actresses who starred in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi in the 1950s.

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.[17]

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 completing her pending projects, Saroja Devi took a break of about five years from films. She returned to acting on the insistence by film producers and her fans, but, contrary to her previous record, she no longer accepted romantic roles. She starred opposite Sivaji Ganesan in Parambariyam (1993) in a lead role as a matron, 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.[19]

Twice in 1998 and 2005, Saroja Devi chaired film juries: the 45th National Film Awards and the 53rd National Film Awards jury.[20][21] 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.[2] She also served as the Chairperson of the Karnataka Film Development Corporation,[22] which had been set up as a private limited company by her and a few other film personalities in 1972.[23]

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.

On 1 March 1967, Saroja married Sri Harsha, an engineer.[9][24] Sri Harsha, an engineer, worked for Bharat Electronics, a Public Sector company. At that time, Saroja was facing a financial crisis and income tax troubles. Her husband helped her overcome these problems, and taught her how to manage her finances.[2]

Sri Harsha supported Devi's acting career after marriage. When Saroja was asked in an interview as to how she did not discontinue acting due to her mother's insistence after 1967, she said: "Dilip Kumar once said he has asked Saira Banu to not to stop acting profession. The story was mentioned by Rajesh Khanna to my husband Sri Harsha, not to stop me from acting.".[25] Sri Harsha died in 1986 due to various health problems.

Saroja Devi's children included her daughter Bhuvaneshwari and two grandchildren Indira and Gautam. Bhuvaneshwari was her niece, and had been adopted by her.[citation needed] Bhuvaneshwari died young,[2] and Saroja Devi sponsors the Bhuvaneshwari Award for literature in her memory.[26]

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.[29]

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