Beginning her artistic journey as a child actor, Balasaraswathi Devi’s immense talent soon drew the attention of renowned filmmaker K. Subramaniam, who introduced her to Tamil cinema.

xVeteran actress and singer Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi, revered as the first playback singer in Telugu cinema, passed away peacefully at her residence in Hyderabad. She was 97.

She holds a distinguished place in Indian film history — she not only pioneered playback singing in Telugu cinema but was also the first ‘light music’ singer on All India Radio.

Her cinematic singing debut came with Bhagya Lakshmi (1943), where she lent her voice to actress Kamala Kotnis for the song “Thinne Meedha Sinnoda”, composed by Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao. This marked a revolutionary shift in the Telugu film industry, as it wa

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