B. Saroja Devi was one of the most popular actresses of the late 50s and 60s who acted in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films and was known as the first female superstar of Kannada cinema. She made her debut in 1955 with the Kannada movie Mahakavi Kalidasa, which was followed by the Telugu film Panduranga Mahatyam in 1957 and the Tamil film Nadodi Mannan in 1958. She formed the lead pair with many of the then top stars like Dr. Rajkumar in Kannada, NTR in Telugu, MGR, Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan in Tamil. Some of her well-known Hindi films were Paigham (1959), Sasural (1961), Opera House (1961), Hong Kong (1961), Pareeksha (1963), Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya (1963), Beti Bete (1964), Dooj Ka Chand (1964) and Preet Na Jane Reet (1966). She died in Bengaluru on 14 July 2025 at the age of 87.