She was a theatre artiste before venturing into movies, her debut film role was as Lohitasva in "Raja Harishchandra" in 1936. Her first film as a heroine was Kashtajeevi by L. V. Prasad in 1940, but that film was abandoned after three reels shooting. Later, C.Pullayya discovered her and gave her the opportunity to star as Mohini in Gollabhama (1947). Based on her acting ability and looks, she became a star overnight in 1947. She eventually acted in more than 350 films, majority of them in Telugu films and a few in Hindi, Tamil and Kannada films as the heroine or in character roles.[2]
She acted in Lava Kusa, a milestone film and the first color film in the Telugu film industry in 1963. She is well known for playing Sita in Lava Kusa and her performances in films like Suvarna Sundari and Anarkali were also appreciated. Brundavanam (1992), Anna Vadina (1993) and Police Alludu (1994) were the last few films of her career. In Balaiah's Police Alludu and Anna Vadina she appeared alongside Brahmanandam. She acted in various roles, such as a damsel, an angel, a dancer, a demon, a goddess, a traditional woman and later in mother roles.[3]
As producer
In 1955 she produced the film Anarkali, in which she herself played the title role, with Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Prince Salim. Then she produced V. Madhusudan Rao's Bhakta Tukaram and Chandipriya. Actress Jayapradha played the lead role in the latter alongside Sobhan Babu and Chiranjeevi. As a producer she has produced 27 films. An ardent devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba she produced and acted in Shirdi Sai Parthi Sai Divyakatha, a tele-serial on the life and avatar of Sri Sathya Sai Baba.[4]
Personal life
She married P. Adinarayana Rao, a music director, in 1948.[2] They settled in Chennai. They have two sons. Together, they produced many Telugu films under the banner, Anjali Pictures. Their granddaughter, Saila Rao, is also an actress.[citation needed]
Death
Devi died at the age of 86 on 13 January 2014 at Vijaya Hospital, in Chennai, due to a cardiac arrest.[2] Her organs were donated to Ramachandra Medical College.[5]
