[1] Harini was born to tulu speaking Shivalli Madhva Brahmins Paniyadi Srinivasa Upadhya and Bharathi in Udupi as their fourth child.
She appeared as a child artist in films like Sri Murugan and Kannika for which she received one rupee for delivering the dialogues very nicely.
[1] Harini made her debut as leading lady in Jaganmohini in the role of Mohini at the age of 15.
Harini got 200 letters for her stellar performance when she was shooting for her second film, bilingual Ratnadeep made simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi.
Some of the films produced by Harini are Naandi, Nanda Deepa, Nava Jeevana, Namma Makkalu, and Seetha.