B. Saroja Devi: Sweet voiced Kannada parrot was goddess of expression

TAMIL cinema fans like this writer who grew up on a diet of Tamil movies were deeply saddened when veteran South Indian actress B. Saroja Devi passed away some days ago on 14 July 2025. The octogenarian Saroja Devi after performing her daily 30-minute pooja in the mornings was seated on a sofa watching TV when she collapsed suddenly with a groan. The unconscious Saroja Devi was taken by ambulance to hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival. She was 87 years old.

- By D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Among actresses in Tamil movies, Saroja Devi has been a favourite of mine since boyhood. In a screen career spanning more than five decades, Saroja Devi has acted in 209 films. Of these she played the heroine or leading lady in 161 films. She was cast in supportive actress roles or character actor roles in the other movies. In the early stages of her career, Saroja made brief appearances as a dancer too.

In those days the success of a film was judged by the number of weeks it was screened uninterruptedly in a cinema theatre. Out of the 161 films in which Saroja Devi acted as the heroine, 123 ran for more than a hundred days. Some celebrated silver jubilees running for more than 25 weeks at a stretch. A few were Golden jubilee hits running for more than 50 weeks.

Sivaji Ganesan, M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) and Gemini Ganesan comprised the triumvirate that dominated Tamil movies from the fifties to the seventies of the 20th century. The top thespian trinity of that vintage in Tamil cinema were Sivaji, MGR and Gemini. They ruled the roost in ‘Kollywood’ as the Tamil Nadu film industry is referred to in lighter vein.

The triple dynasties in Tamil history are the Cheras, Chozhas and Pandyas. They were known as the “Moovaenthar” or three Kings. Sivaji, MGR and Gemini were often referred to as the Moovaenthar of Tamil cinema. Several actresses like Bhanumathy, Anjali Devi, Padmini, Savithri, Devika, Jamuna Sowcar Janaki, K.R. Vijaya, Jayalalithaa and Vaanishree have acted opposite them as their leading ladies.

However it is only Saroja Devi who has paired with the trio in near equal number of films. She has acted in 26 films with MGR, 22 with Sivaji and 17 with Gemini. Furthermore she has also acted in many films with SS Rajendran a contemporary of MGR, Sivaji and Gemini. In that context, it could be said that Saroja Devi reigned as the uncrowned queen of Tamil cinema in the early and mid-sixties of the last century.