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R. Balasaraswathi Devi Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated October 21, 2026 • 4 min read

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Quick Info

Date of birth28 August 1928

Age97 (at time of death)

BirthplaceVenkatagiri, Madras Presidency, British India (now Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India)

ProfessionPlayback singer; Actress

NationalityIndian

Marital statusWidow

SpouseSri Raja Rao Pradyumna Krishna Mahipati Surya Rao

FamilySon - 1

R. Balasaraswathi Devi Biography

Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi was a pioneering South Indian playback singer and actress whose career spanned nearly a century. Credited as the first playback歌r

Early life and background

Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi was born on 28 August 1928 in Venkatagiri in the Madras Presidency of British India, a region now identified with Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. She came from the Nidudavolu family, known in Telugu cultural circles, and began formal training in classical music at a young age under the tutelage of Allathuru Subbayya. Her talent emerged early: at six she recorded a solo gramophone record for His Master’s Voice and became popularly known by the childhood nickname Bala.

Career

Balasaraswathi Devi’s screen work began when she was a child. At eight years old she appeared as the child artist Ganga in the 1936 Telugu films Sati Anasuya and Bhakta Dhruva, directed by C. Pullaiah. Her reputation as a gifted young performer led to invitations from Tamil filmmakers, and she acted in a string of Tamil and Telugu films through the 1930s and 1940s. Titles from that era include Bhaktha Kuchela (1936), Balayogini (1937), Tukaram (1938), Thiruneelakantar (1939), and Illalu (1940). She worked with prominent studios such as Madras United Artists Corporation, Star Combines, and Indira Devi Films.

In 1943 she made a landmark contribution to Telugu cinema by recording the song “Tinne Meedha Sinnoda” for the film Bhagya Lakshmi, an effort recognised as the first instance of playback singing in Telugu film history. Around the same time she also became the first light music singer to perform on All India Radio, singing opening numbers for AIR Madras and AIR Vijayawada.

Across the 1940s to the 1960s Balasaraswathi Devi maintained a dual career as a playback singer and actress. She recorded many memorable film songs, such as “Ohoho Maharaja” from Swapna Sundari (1950), “Deepavali Deepavali” from Shavukaru (1950), and “Andam Choodavaya Anandinchavaya” from Devadasu (1953). Later hits included “Raavamma Nidura Raavamma” from Nirupedalu (1954), “Madiloni Madhura Bhavam” from Jayasimha (1955), and “Lali Lali Nanu Kannayya” from Peddarikalu (1957).

Her musical range extended beyond Telugu; she sang in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Sinhala. Trained in both Carnatic and Hindustani traditions, she was noted for accurate handling of raga and shruti. Balasaraswathi Devi collaborated with leading composers such as K. V. Mahadevan, the duo Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy, Naushad, Vedha, Master Venu, and M. B. Sreenivasan, and recorded duets with prominent vocalists including Ghantasala, A. M. Rajah, T. M. Soundararajan, Pithapuram Nageswara Rao, and K. Rani.

Her recording career adapted with the times: from gramophone records to cassettes, CDs and digital formats. She recorded devotional material including Meera bhajans translated into Telugu by Dr. C. Narayana Reddy, and her output is credited with exceeding two thousand songs. In 1980 she contributed vocals to the Telugu film Sangham Chekkina Shilpalu. When she was eighty she released a devotional album titled Radha Madhavam for which she composed and directed the music herself. Her last noted live performance took place in 2018 at the Swarabhishekam program in Hyderabad.

Public profile

Over decades Balasaraswathi Devi received recognition for lifetime achievement, including awards such as the Ramineni Foundation Award and the YSR Lifetime Achievement Award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2023. Her long association with music—described as spanning ninety-five years in public accounts—placed her among the earliest and longest-serving playback singers in Indian cinema.

Personal life

Balasaraswathi Devi married Sri Raja Rao Pradyumna Krishna Mahipati Surya Rao, the Zamindar of Kolamk in Tamil Nadu; the couple met during one of her performances in Madras. She lived for a time in Mysore and later settled in Hyderabad. After her husband’s death she lived with her son and grandson in Secunderabad. She was known for a preference for half-white silk sarees, jasmine flowers in her hair, and sweets such as gulab jamun and jangri. Her family continued the musical tradition into later generations.

Latest updates

Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi passed away at her residence in Hyderabad, Telangana, on 15 October 2025. She was 97 years old. Obituaries and retrospectives have noted her pioneering role as the first playback singer in Telugu cinema and as the first light music singer on All India Radio, and they have highlighted a recorded body of work that crossed languages and formats over many decades.

Editorial Review and Sources

This F4U profile is written from publicly available career and profile information, then reviewed for clarity before publication. If you spot an outdated detail about R. Balasaraswathi Devi, send the page URL and a reliable correction source to f4udotin@gmail.com.

Reference context: StarsUnfolded

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Recent Work

Radha Madhavam

Devotional album composed and directed by Balasaraswathi Devi, released when she was eighty.

circa 2008
Sangham Chekkina Shilpalu

Sang vocals for the 1980 Telugu film.

1980
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Career Highlights

  1. Credited as the first playback singer in Telugu cinema (song recorded for Bhagya Lakshmi, 1943)
  2. First light music singer on All India Radio; sang opening songs for AIR Madras and AIR Vijayawada
  3. Recorded over two thousand songs across multiple South Indian languages
  4. Collaborated with leading composers and singers of South Indian cinema
  5. Recipient of Ramineni Foundation Award and YSR Lifetime Achievement Award (2023)
Reviewed by F4U Editorial Desk

F4U profile pages are prepared from public career information, checked for readability, and updated when reliable correction sources are shared with the editorial team.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When was R. Balasaraswathi Devi born?

R. Balasaraswathi Devi was born on 28 August 1928.

What is R. Balasaraswathi Devi known for?

R. Balasaraswathi Devi is known for playback singer; Actress.

What is R. Balasaraswathi Devi’s marital status?

R. Balasaraswathi Devi's marital status is listed as Widow.

Who is R. Balasaraswathi Devi married to?

R. Balasaraswathi Devi is publicly listed as married to Sri Raja Rao Pradyumna Krishna Mahipati Surya Rao.