R. Balasaraswathi

R. Balasaraswathi Devi
Born	Rao Balasaraswathi Devi 28 August 1928 Venkatagiri, Madras Presidency, British India now in Andhra Pradesh
Occupation	Actress, playback singer
Awards	Ramineni Foundation Award

R. Balasaraswathi, Raavu Balasaraswathi or Rao Balasaraswathi Devi (Telugu: రావు బాలసరస్వతీ దేవి. Tamil: ராவ் பாலசரஸ்வதி தேவி) (born 28 August 1928) is a famous singer and actress of 1930 to the 1960s in Telugu and Tamil cinema.

She has the distinction of being the first light music singer on All India Radio and the first playback singer of the Telugu cinema industry.

She was born in 1928 at Venkatagiri. She learned music from Allathuru Subbayya and lent her voice for the first solo gramophone by HMV recording company at the age of six.

She acted as child actor Ganga and also sang in the films Sati Anasuya and Bhakta Dhruva, both directed by C. Pullaiah in 1936. Observing her talent, director K. Subramaniam invited her to act in Tamil films. In the following years, she acted in Tamil films like Bhaktha Kuchela (1936), Balayogini (1937), and Thiruneelakantar (1939). She played the role of Tukaram's daughter in Tukaram (1938). The Tukaram role was portrayed by Musiri Subramania Iyer in the Tamil version and by C. S. R. Anjaneyulu in the Telugu version. In 1940, she acted with S. Rajeswara Rao in Illalu, directed by Gudavalli Ramabrahmam.

In Bhagya Lakshmi (1943) of Sri Renuka Films of Chittor V. Nagaiah, she made history when she sang for Kamala Kotnis on screen. It was the first instance of playback singing in Telugu cinema. The song Thinne Meedha Sinnoda was composed by Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao.

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