Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi (1928–2025) was a foundational legend of South Indian cinema. As an actress in both the silent and talkie eras, and the first female playback singer in Telugu cinema, her career spanned the 1930s to the 1960s. She passed away on Wednesday at the age of 97. It is widely noted that despite her pioneering contributions, she received no major national civilian awards from the government.
Pawan Kalyan was among very few Telugu film industry persons to mourn her passing away. "I was saddened to learn of the passing of Smt. Rao Balasaraswathi Garu, a singer and actress of the early generation of cinema. I pray to God for peace to her soul. Smt. Balasaraswathi Devi Garu, who acted in Telugu and Tamil films eight decades ago, also enchanted audiences with her voice as a singer. She secured a special place in light music (Lalita Sangeetam) and sang many songs on All India Radio (Akashavani). I express my deepest sympathies to her family," he stated in his condolence message.
Among stalwarts in the field of politics, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and former AP CM Jagan Mohan Reddy have put out condolence messages for Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi.
