She starred in the lead role in Jaganmohini (1951), the first Kannada film to complete 100 days at the box-office.

[1] 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.

[2] Devi joined professional theatre at the age of 11 before entering films with Krishnaleela (1947).

[3] In the film, she shared screen with Kemparaj Urs while also meeting future husband D. Shankar Singh on its sets.