Pandari Bai

Pandari Bai (Kannada: ಪಂಡರೀ ಬಾಯಿ; September 18,1928 – January 29, 2003) was a prominent actress of South Indian languages films mostly in Kannada and Tamil during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first heroine. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine and mother to stalwarts such as Rajkumar and Sivaji Ganesan. She was the heroine in Rajkumar's debut movie Bedara Kannappa and also Sivaji's debut movie Parasakthi. She has acted in over 1,000 films in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil.

Born in Bhatkal, Karnataka, in present Uttara Kannada in a Marathi speaking family. Her father was a drawing master and a Harikatha exponent, and also a stage actor. He taught her the art of Harikatha, thus even before she was ten year old, Pandari started giving Harikatha performances.