Devi was born as Mohini on 9 April 1933 in
Kalladka, a town in the erstwhile
South Canara region of
Madras Presidency (in present-day
Karnataka), to Upendra Shenoy and Saraswatibai, as the last of their four children. Devi lost her father when she was four or five years old; the family moved to
Mangalore, then to
Ahmedabad, where her brother-in-law ran a textile business, before settling in
Udupi. It was here that Devi got hooked to watching films, with the role of
M. S. Subbulakshmi as Naradar in the 1941 Tamil film
Savithiri influencing her deeply in pursuing a career in acting. Devi joined professional theatre at the age of 11 before entering films with
Krishnaleela (1947). In the film, she shared screen with
Kemparaj Urs while also meeting future husband
D. Shankar Singh on its sets. She went on to appear in
Jaganmohini (1951), which became the first Kannada film to complete a 100-day run at the theatres. Her
Dallali (1952) alongside Makeup Subbanna was another major success. Most films she appeared in where produced by her husband under the banner Mahatma Films. Devi had four children: son
Rajendra Singh Babu is a film director, Sangram Singh and Jairaj Singh and daughter
Vijayalakshmi Singh, an actress and producer. Devi died on 6 April 2021 at her residence in Saraswatipura,
Mysore, aged 88. ==Filmography==