Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi (born 28 August 1928) is an Indian singer and actress who performed from 1930 to the 1960s in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

and

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

. She was the first

light music Light music is a less-serious form of Western classical music, which originated in the 18th and 19th centuries and continues today. Its heyday was in the mid‑20th century. The style is through-composed, usually shorter orchestral pieces and ...

singer on

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

and the first playback singer in the

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film N ...

Early life

Balasaraswathi was born in

Venkatagiri Venkatagiri is a town in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and mandals headquarters of Venkatagiri mandal. Venkatagiri's old name is "Kali Mili". It is notable for its Handloom Cotton Sarees. It was p ...

in 1928. She learned music from Allathuru Subbayya and lent her voice for the first solo gramophone by

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

at the age of six.

Career

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 Krishnasamy Subramaniyam (20 April 1904 – 7 April 1971) was an Indian film director of the 1930s and 1940s. Dancer Padma Subrahmanyam is his daughter. Biography Subramanyam was involved in the establishment of the Tamil film industry. He ...

invited her to act in Tamil films. In the following years, she acted in Tamil films like '' Bhaktha Kuchela'' (1936), ''

Balayogini ''Balayogini'' ( ''Girl Saint'') is a 1937 Indian film made in Tamil and Telugu languages. It was directed by K. Subramanyam. It is one of the earliest Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting and to advocate reformist social pol ...

'' (1937), and '' Thiruneelakantar'' (1939). She played the role of Tukaram's daughter in ''Tukaram'' (1938). The Tukaram role was portrayed by

Musiri Subramania Iyer Musiri Subramanian Iyer (9 April 1899 – 25 March 1975) was a Carnatic vocalist whose stage performing career spanned the 1920s to the 1940s. After retirement from the stage, he remained an iconic figure in Carnatic music as a dedicated teach ...

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 Gudavalli Ramabrahmam was an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Telugu cinema. He is known for directing critically acclaimed social problem films like '' Mala Pilla'' (1938) and '' Raithu Bidda'' (1939). At a time ...

. In ''Bhagya Lakshmi'' (1943) of Sri Renuka Films of

V. Nagayya Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma (28 March 1904 – 30 December 1973), popularly known as Chittoor Nagayya, was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. Nagayya wa ...

, she sang for Kamala Kotnis on screen, this being the first instance of playback singing in Telugu cinema. The song ''Thinne Meedha Sinnoda'' was composed by Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao. She lived for some years in Mysore, and then shifted to Hyderabad. After her husband's death, she has lived with her son in her grandson's house in Secunderabad.

Music composers she sang for

She worked with G. Ramanathan,

K. V. Mahadevan Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician who won the inaugural National Film Award for Best Music Direction in (1967) for '' Kandan Karunai''. ...

, C. R. Subburaman, S. V. Venkatraman,

Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy were an Indian music composing duo composed of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy. They worked together on over 100 films, from 1952's '' Panam'' to 1965's '' Aayirathil Oruvan''. After their split, Ramamoorthy w ...

, Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao, R. Chinnaiah, S. Hanumantha Rao, S. Rajeswara Rao, P. Adinarayana Rao, G. Aswathama,

Ogirala Ramachandra Rao Ogirala Ramachandra Rao () (1905–1957) was an Indian actor, music director and multi instrumentalist, predominant in Telugu cinema. Early life and career Ogirala was born on 10 September 1905 at Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh to Ogirala Janardha ...

Balantrapu Rajanikanta Rao Balantrapu Rajanikanta Rao (; 29 January 1920 – 22 April 2018) was an Indian writer, composer and poet in the Telugu language. He was the son of Balantrapu Venkatarao, one of modern Telugu poet-duo " Kavi Rajahamsa" Venkata Parvateswara Kav ...

, Adepalli Rama Rao, C. N. Pandurangan,

, T. V. Raju, Ghantasala,

Naushad Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian composer for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the use of ...

, L. Malleswara Rao, S. Dakshinamurthi,

Vedha Vedha may refer to: * ''Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called th ...

, M. Ranga Rao,

Master Venu Madduri Venugopal better known as Master Venu (1916–1981) was an Indian music composer of the Telugu and Tamil cinemas and the father of the actor Bhanu Chander. He was born 1916 in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India and died 1981 in Chenna ...

, R. Sudarsanam, Pamarti Krishna Murty,

G. Govindarajulu Naidu G. Govindarajulu Naidu was an acclaimed music director in 1940s and 50s in the south Indian film industry. Hailing from Tiruchirappalli, he was one among the musicians who defined the way of music in South Indian film industry. He composed music ...

and

M. B. Sreenivasan Manamadurai Balakrishnan Sreenivasan (19 September 1925 – 9 March 1988), or MBS, was a South Indian music director who worked mainly in the Malayalam and Tamil film industries. He was born to an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family on 19 Sept ...

With playback singers

She sang duets mostly with Ghantasala and A. M. Rajah. She sang with T. M. Soundararajan, T. A. Mothi,

Seerkazhi Govindarajan Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was a Carnatic vocalist and a playback singer of Indian cinema, predominantly in Tamil cinema. Early life Govindarajan, was born on 19 January 1933 at Sirkazhi (a small town in prese ...

, S. Rajam, M. S. Ramarao,

Pithapuram Nageswara Rao Patharlagadda Nageswara Rao (5 May 1930 – 5 March 1996), popularly known as Pithapuram Nageswara Rao, was an Indian playback singer known for his contributions to Telugu cinema, particularly in comedic songs. He gained popularity in the 1950 ...

and Subramanyam. She also sang duets with

Jikki Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni (3 November 1935 – 16 August 2004), more famously known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang around 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhalese, and Hindi lan ...

, A. P. Komala,

M. S. Rajeswari M. S. Rajeswari (; 24 February 1932 – 25 April 2018) was an Indian playback singer who has recorded over 500 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films. Early life She was born on 24 February 1932 to Madurai Satagopan and ...

, K. Rani, P. Susheela and P. S. Vaideghi.

Filmography

Playback singer

Actress

References

External links

*
Listen to some of the songs of R. Balasaraswathi at Old Telugu Songs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balasaraswathi, Raavu 1928 births Telugu playback singers Living people Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian actresses Indian women playback singers 20th-century Indian singers Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Singers from Andhra Pradesh Actresses from Andhra Pradesh Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh People from Nellore district All India Radio people All India Radio women 20th-century Indian women singers Women musicians from Andhra Pradesh