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 India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

. She was the first light music singer on

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

and the first playback singer in the

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

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 famous for its Handloom Cotton Sarees. Venkatagi ...

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

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

recording company 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 Chittajallu Pullayya (Telugu: చిత్తజల్లు పుల్లయ్య; 1898 – 6 October 1967) was an Indian film director and screenwriter. He is one of the earliest film personalities in Telugu cinema being associated with t ...

in 1936. Observing her talent, director

K. Subramaniam K. Subramaniyam (20 April 1904 – 7 April 1971), born Krishnasamy Subramaniyam, 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 ...

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 polic ...

'' (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 Subramania 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 teache ...

in the Tamil version and by

C. S. R. Anjaneyulu Chilakalapudi Seeta Rama Anjaneyulu (11 July 1907 – 8 October 1963), popularly known as C. S. R., was an Indian method actor, and thespian best known for his works in Telugu cinema, and Telugu theater. He acted in many stage dramas and portray ...

in the Telugu version. In 1940, she acted with

S. Rajeswara Rao Saluri Rajeswara Rao (11 October 1922 – 25 October 1999) was an Indian composer, multi instrumentalist, conductor, singer, and music producer known for his works predominantly in South Indian cinema.M. L. Narasimham"Trend-setter in Light Music ...

in ''

Illalu Illalu () is a 1940 Telugu-language drama film directed by Gudavalli Ramabrahmam. Plot Murthy (Umamaheswara Rao) is married to Indira (Kanachanamala) and they live happily. Subsequently, he falls in love with Leela (Lakshmi Rajyam), an educated ...

'', 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 w ...

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

V. Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also 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. ...

, 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 Gopalan Iyer Ramanathan was an Indian music composer for Tamil movies. He is also known as ''Isai Methai'' (Genius of Music) or ''Sangeetha Chakravarthy'' (Emperor of Music) and is considered to be one of the influential Tamil music composers ...

K. V. Mahadevan Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films. He is best known for his contributio ...

, C. R. Subburaman,

S. V. Venkatraman Sozhavanthan Varadharajan Venkatraman (Tamil: சோழவந்தான் வரதராஜன் வெங்கட்ராமன்) (25 April 1911 – 7 April 1998), also known as SVV, was an Indian actor, singer, and music director, wh ...

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 wor ...

, Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao, R. Chinnaiah, S. Hanumantha Rao,

P. Adinarayana Rao Penupatruni Adinarayana Rao (21 August 1915 – 19 August 1991) was an Indian music director, film producer, lyricist and play writer. He co-founded "Aswini Pictures" with Akkineni Nageswara Rao and produced some movies in Telugu and Tamil. Late ...

, G. Aswathama,

Ogirala Ramachandra Rao Ogirala Ramachandra Rao ( te, ఓగిరాల రామచంద్రరావు) (1905–1957) was an Indian actor, music director and multi instrumentalist, predominant in Telugu cinema. Early life and career Ogirala was born on 10 Sept ...

Balantrapu Rajanikanta Rao Balantrapu Rajanikanta Rao ( te, బాలాంత్రపు రజనీకాంత రావు; 29 January 1920 – 22 April 2018) was an Indian writer, composer and poet in the Telugu language. He was the son of Balantrapu Venkatarao, o ...

, Adepalli Rama Rao, C. N. Pandurangan,

, T. V. Raju,

Ghantasala Ghantasala may refer to: People * Ghantasala (musician) (Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao, 1922-1974), Telugu singer and composer * Ghantasala Balaramayya (1906 - after 1952), Telugu film producer and director * Ghantasala Sai Srinivas, professionally ...

Naushad Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian music director 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 ...

, L. Malleswara Rao, S. Dakshinamurthi,

Vedha ‌ ''Vedha'' is a 2008 Indian Tamil language action drama film, directed by R. Nithyakumar starring Arun Vijay and Sheela. The music is composed by Srikanth Deva. The film opened to negative reviews. Plot Vijay ( Arun Vijay) is crazy about h ...

, 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 Septe ...

With playback singers

She sang duets mostly with

and

A. M. Rajah Aemala Manmadharaju Rajah, popularly known as A. M. Rajah, was an Indian playback singer and music director. Early life A. M. Rajah was born on 1 July 1929 in Cchamanchipuram, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. His father died when he was thr ...

. She sang with

T. M. Soundararajan Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan (24 March 1923 – 25 May 2013), popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 films ...

, T. A. Mothi,

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

, S. Rajam, M. S. Ramarao,

Pithapuram Nageswara Rao Pithapuram Nageswara Rao (5 May 1930 – 5 March 1996) was an Indian playback singer who worked in the early period of Telugu cinema. He sang thousands of songs, mostly of a comedic nature, in the 1950s and 1960s along with Madhavapeddi Satyam ...

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, Hindi, and Sinhalese langua ...

A. P. Komala Arkadu Parthasarathy Komala (born 28 August 1934), commonly known as A. P. Komala, is an Indian playback singer. She has sung songs in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada languages. Career life She was a much sought after playback singer from t ...

M. S. Rajeswari M. S. Rajeswari ( ta, எம். எஸ். ராஜேஸ்வரி; 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 w ...

, K. Rani,

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

and P. S. Vaideghi.

Filmography

Playback singer

Actress

# Sati Anasuya (1936) Telugu # Bhakta Dhruva (1936) Telugu # Bhaktha Kuchela (1936) Tamil #

(1936) Tamil #

Tukaram Sant Tukaram Maharaj (Marathi pronunciation: ̪ukaːɾam was a 17th-century Marathi poet, Hindu ''sant'' (saint), popularly known as Tuka, Tukobaraya, Tukoba in Maharashtra. He was a Sant of Varkari sampradaya (Marathi-Vaishnav tradition) ...

(1938) Telugu & Tamil # Thiruneelakantar (1939) Tamil #

(1940) Telugu #

Apavadu ''Apavadu'' ( te, అపవాదు; English translation: Scandal) is a 1941 Telugu Drama film directed by Gudavalli Ramabrahmam. The plot Prakash is a revenue inspector who happily lives with his wife Kamala, sister Kantham and son Kittu. Ven ...

(1941) Telugu #

Chandrahasa Chandrahasa () is a king of the Kuntala kingdom in Hindu mythology. The story of Chandrahasa is described in the Ashvamedhika Parva of the epic Mahabharata. Chandrahasa befriends Arjuna who was accompanied by Krishna guarding the ashvamedha cer ...

(1941) Telugu #

Dhaasippen ''Dhaasippen,'' also ''Dhaasippenn'' () is a 1943 Tamil-language film directed by Ellis R. Dungan and produced by Bhuvaneswai Pictures. The lead actors are T. R. Mahalingam and M. G. Ramachandran. The film was scored by Lalitha Venkatraman and ...

(1943) Tamil #

Radhika Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also de ...

(1947) Telugu #

Bilhana Kavi Bilhana was an 11th-century Kashmiri poet. He is known for his love poem, the '' Caurapañcāśikā''. According to legend, Bilhana fell in love with the daughter of King Madanabhirama, Princess Yaminipurnatilaka, and had a secretive love ...

(1948) Telugu & Tamil #

Shanthi Nivasam ''Santhi Nivasam'' () is a 1960 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by C. S. Rao. The film stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Rajasulochana, Kantha Rao, Krishna Kumari and Devika. It is an adaptation of Palagummi Padmaraju's Telugu play of ...

(1960) Telugu #

Sabhash Raja ''Sabhash Raja'' () is a 1961 Indian Telugu-language drama film, produced by Sundarlal Nahatha, Doondy under the Rajasri Productions banner and directed by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Rajasulochana, with music com ...

(1961) Telugu

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