Legendary Veteran Actress 'Abhinaya Saraswati' B. Saroja Dies At 87 Due To Age-Related Ailments

Veteran actress B. Saroja breathed her last at her residence in Malleswaram, Bengaluru. As per reports, she passed away due to age-related illness at the age of 87. She has appeared in 200 films across five languages: Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and others. After her prolific career, she earned the title of 'Abhinaya Saraswati'.  

Cinema icon B. Saroja passes away at 87 

As per media reports, B. Saroja was suffering from various age-related ailments before she passed away on July 14. Born in 1938, the cinema legend was awarded India's highest civilian honours, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. Bangalore University also conferred her with an honorary doctorate. B. Saroja also received the Kalaimamani award from the Tamil Nadu government.

Over the years, after playing a bouquet of characters, B. Saroja was known as the first female superstar of Kannada cinema. The actress got her big break at the tender age of 17, in the Kannada movie, Mahakavi Kalidasa (1955). The movie was a superhit, with her performance receiving special accolades. The movie won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada. She stepped into the Telugu cinema with the NTR starrer, Panduranga Mahatyam (1957) and made a big name in the Tamil industry with her debut movie Nadodi Mannan (1958), which was also the maiden movie of M.G. Ramachandran. B. Saroja made her debut in Bollywood with the 1959 film Paigham, featuring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in the lead roles.

B Saroja was the only Indian actress to play the lead female role in 161 consecutive films over 29 years. Fans, followers and industry insiders are mourning the passing of the acting icon and took to their social media accounts to pay moving tributes. Details of her last rites and funeral are yet to be announced.