Veteran actress Prathima Devi, the mother of filmmaker SV Rajendra Singh Babu and Vijayalakshmi Singh, passed away due to age-related ailments on Tuesday, 6 April. She breathed her last in Mysuru at the age of 88.

Prathima Devi Death
Prathima Devi dies at 88.PR Handout

SV Rajendra Singh Babu has confirmed the news to the media about the passing away of his mother. Her body is kept for public homage at her Saraswathipuram residence in Mysuru and the last rites will be performed on Wednesday noon at 1 pm.

Who was Prathima Devi?
Her journey in acting began at a young age in theatre and she made her debut in films with Krishna Leela, which was directed by her husband and legendary filmmaker D Shankar Singh. She was credited as the first heroine of Sandalwood to star in a silver jubilee film in the early 1950s.

In her lifetime, Prathima Devi went on to act in over 60 movies. Muttidella Chinna, Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage, Srinivasa Kalyana, Chanchala Kumari, Dharmasthala Mahatme and Mangala Sutra were some of her successful movies.

Mahatma Pictures Introduced Legends
Her husband Shankar Singh's Mahatma Pictures produced over 100 movies in Sandalwood. Dr Rajkumar, doyen of Kannada cinema, his younger brother Varadaraj and sister Sharadamma, acclaimed singer P  Kalingarao, music director duo Rajan-Nagendra, TN Balakrishna, lyricist-director Hunsur Krishnamurthy, actor Arjun Sarja are some of the popular celebs who made their debut under this banner.

Her son SV Rajendra Singh Babu is a National Award-winning filmmaker and her daughter Vijaya Lakshmi Singh was a popular actress of 90s. Her grandchildren Aditya and Rishika Singh are also actors.  

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