Saritha was discovered by the famous director K. Balachander who cast her as a heroine for the Telugu film Maro Charithra (1979) opposite Kamal Haasan, which became a hit (later remade in Hindi as Ek Duje Ke Liye). She was the 162nd girl auditioned for the lead role in Marocharithra when director Balachander decided she was the right actress.

Director K. Balachander didn't cast her in the Hindi remake of Marocharithra, because he needed a Punjabi actress Rati Agnihotri for the film to work in Bollywood. However, he liked Saritha's performance in Marocharithra (1979) so much that he cast her in 22 more South Indian films, including Agni Satchi, Kalyana Agathigal, and Achamillai Achamillai. She also played herself in a guest role in his film 47 Natkal (1981). She won several acting awards for his films.

Considered to be a very sincere actress, she had tonsured her head for the cancer-affected girl role in Sujatha(1980) and gained several pounds to play the psychotic role in Julie Ganapathy (2005). Unfortunately, both films were flops.