Saroja Devi no more: ‘Abhinaya Saraswathi' broke language barriers

Time of India

17 hours ago

The 1950s was transformative for film industries across India as they sought new faces beyond professional theatre. Among the female stars who emerged was 17-year-old B Saroja Devi, making her debut in Kannada film Aashadabhoothi.
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However, it was another Kannada film, Mahakavi Kalidasa, featuring Honnappa Bhagavatar, a superstar in both Kannada and Tamil, which became her first release.
The third daughter of Bhairappa, a police officer, and Rudramma, this Channapatna (then in Bangalore district) girl would go on to dominate the southern film industries for decades to come.
Unlike male stars, female stars found it easy to transcend language barriers.
Within a few years of her debut, Saroja Devi starred opposite MG Ramachandran and Shivaji Ganesan in Tamil; Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Shammi Kapoor in Hindi; and NT Rama Rao in Telugu, in addition to her Kannada films.
She became a mainstay in Tamil cinema, acting as the leading lady in 26 films with MGR, 22 films with Shivaji Ganesan and 17 films with Gemini Ganesan between 1957 and 1967. Tamil film fans affectionately called Saroja 'Kannadathu Paingili' (Kannada Parrot).
Her popularity in Tamil endured even after she stopped playing lead roles and focused on Kannada films after 1968, following her marriage to Sriharsha, an engineer. On one occasion, the chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, recalled the stampede-like situation that occurred when fans mobbed her in Chennai as she accompanied him for the funeral of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
One film that particularly enshrines Saroja Devi's legacy in Kannada is Kitturu Chennamma (1961), directed by legendary BR Panthulu.
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She played the role of the queen, who resisted the British in the early 19th century, to artistic perfection. The film and her role remain popular to date. In 1964, she starred in the simultaneously made Amarashilpi Jakanachari (Kannada, alongside Kalyan Kumar) and Amarashilpi Jakkanna (Telugu, alongside Akkineni Nageswara Rao), which were the first full-length colour films in both languages.
Mallammana Pavaada (1969) was another of her early Kannada classics.
Her popular Kannada films with Rajkumar came in the 1970s, including Sri Krishna Rukmini Satyabhama, Sri Srinivasa Kalyana, Babruvahana, and Bhagyavantharu. By the late 1970s, she acted as the female lead in over 150 films across four languages, a record.
Her versatility wasn't limited to the number of languages she acted in. The Chaturbhasha Taare (Star of Four Languages) was equally at ease in varied roles ranging from historical, mythological, and social to glamorous.
Not surprisingly, she was considered a fashion icon in the 1960s and 1970s. After the passing of her husband in 1986, Saroja Devi significantly reduced her film appearances. The death of her adopted daughter, Bhuvaneshwari, was another personal blow.
Her guest appearance in Puneeth Rajkumar's 2019 film Natasaarvabhowma was her last silver-screen appearance.
Accolades from the govt, film industry and fans poured in throughout her career, including the Padma Shri (1969), Padma Bhushan (1992), and Special Lifetime Achievement Award (54th National Film Awards, 2006).
She chaired the National Film Award Jury twice (45th and 53rd).
Saroja Devi established two awards: Bhuvaneshwari Award for literature by women and B Saroja Devi Sahitya Prashasthi under the aegis of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat. It was her attempt to take her legacy beyond films. With the passing of the Abhinaya Saraswati, one of the greatest legacies of the
has passed into history.