Earlier this Monday, actor Shivarajkumar paid his tributes to the late Saroja Devi. Talking to the media in front of Saroja's Bengaluru residence, Shivarajkumar compared the latter's passing to "losing our own mother" and emphasised that "she always treated us like her own." The actor stated that Saroja would frequently call him just for a conversation about his health, among other things. He added that he could not find words to describe Saroja as an actor. "She was a natural, both as an artist and as a human being," the Om and Bhairathi Ranagal star explained.
Calling her unpretentious both in front and behind the camera, Shivarajkumar noted, "She had a warmth and elegance that’s rare." The actor also took note of Saroja Devi's close familial ties with the Rajkumar family.
Saroja Devi's career spans more than 200 films across languages in India, including Kannada and Tamil. A winner of the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, she is often described as a 'pan-India' superstar before the term even entered the lexicon. Her performance in 1958's Nadodi Mannan, opposite MG Ramachandran (MGR), earned her the 'superstar' title. Interestingly, in the same year, she starred opposite Rajkumar in director K Shankar’s film Bhookailas.