| Pandari Bai | |
| Birth Name: | Geetha[1] |
| Birth Date: | 1928 9, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Bhatkal, Bombay Presidency, British India (now in Karnataka, India) |
| Death Place: | Chennai, India |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 1943–2001 |
| Works: | Full list |
| Relations: | Mynavathi (sister) |
| Honours: | Kalaimamani (1965) |
Pandari Bai (18 September 1928 – 29 January 2003) was an Indian actress who worked in South Indian cinema, mostly in Kannada cinema during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first successful heroine.[2] She has acted as both heroine and mother to stalwarts such as Rajkumar, M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan. She was the heroine in Rajkumar's debut movie Bedara Kannappa and also Sivaji's debut movie Parasakthi.[3] [4] [5] She has acted in over 1,000 films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.[6] Bai was honoured by Kalaimamani from the Tamil Nadu government.[7]
Pandaribai began her career in acting in plays based on mythological stories before making her film debut in 1943 with the Kannada language film, Vani. She appeared in the 1954 Kannada film Bedara Kannappa opposite Rajkumar. In the film, she played Neela, wife of Kanna (played by Rajkumar), a hunter. She established herself as a lead actress portraying a woman with a "progressive" image assuming the burdens of a feudal patriarchy in films such as Sant Sakhu (1955) and Rayara Sose (1957). In 1959, she appeared in Abba Aa Hudugi, with her sister Mynavathi. The film is considered a landmark in Kannada cinema.[8]
Later in her career Pandari Bai played the mother of stars older than her, most of whom had played the lead with her in her earlier years.[9]
See main article: Pandari Bai filmography.