Sri Lankan cinema fans of Tamil actress B. Saroja Devi are mourning the death of the iconic actress who passed at the age of 87 on July 14. The actress died due to age-related ailments at her residence in Malleswaram, Bengaluru. Her last rites were performed  on the 15th at her native Dasavara village located in Channapatna taluk in Bengaluru South (Ramanagara) district as per Vokkaliga (caste) traditions, her son Gowtham said.

The media in the island of all three languages have paid their tributes remembering her visit to Sri Lanka in 1965 with late M. G. Ramachandran (MGR), who was later Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for several years.

MGR and Saroja Devi were invited by the Davasa Group of Newspapers, based in Colombo. The newspaper company’s Tamil edition was Thinapathi. The editor of Thinapathi S. D. Sivanayagam played a key role in the arrangements of the visit of MGR and Saroja Devi to the Island.

MGR who became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu forming his own political party the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kalagam (AIADMK) remained a formidable figure even in politics until his death.

MGR was born in Kandy, Sri Lanka and later with his parents settled in Tamil Nadu, India where he became a super star in Tamil cinema and through his popularity later became a most popular Chief Minister in the State of Tamil Nadu.   

MGR in his long-lasting cinema career performed  with several actresses such as K. R. Vijaya, Saugar Janaki, Manjula, Banu Priya and in later days Jayalalitha Jeyaram, who had even succeeded MGR in politics and later became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

MGR had been paired with several actresses, however Saroja Devi remained a most suitable heroine of MGR in the films they appeared in together.  

Saroja Devi acted in more than 170 films in her lengthy cinematic career. She had acted as the heroine with other Tamil cinema giants such as Sivaji Ganeshan, Gemini Ganeshan as well as playing several roles as supportive actress. However the films she had acted in with MGR were still remembered very much by her fans.

When she visited Sri Lanka with MGR in 1965, they landed at the Ratmalana Airport and from the airport to Colombo city they were given a rousing welcome. Later both of them were greeted with a civic reception in Colombo and the two film stars had even met then Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake.

During the good old cinematic days when the films of MGR and Saroja Devi were released in Colombo, Jaffna, Kandy and Batticaloa, the theatres were house full and their films had even continued running for more than hundred days.

It was not only Tamils, even a large number of Sinhala filmgoers liked the films MGR and Saroja Devi appeared in.  The theatres which released their films put up tall colorful cutouts outside the theater buildings to attract film goers wherever their films were released in the North and East.      

Saroja Devi entertained millions of cinema fans and she was even honored for her contribution to Tamil cinema with several prominent National and State awards in India, including the prestigious National award Pathmabooshan.

Saroja Devi’s last wish was to donate her eyes. Accordingly, her eyes were donated to Narayana Nethralaya and according to hospital officials, both her corneas are in good condition and will be transplanted in a couple of days.