Born in Dakshina Kannada district, Kishori Ballal made acting debut with 1960's Ivalentha Hendathi and in her five-decade-long career, she worked in over 75 movies across different languages such as Kahi, Hani Hani, Suryakanthi, Carry On Maratha and Quick Gun Murugun.

In the Hindi film industry, Kishori Ballal is best known for playing Kaveri Amma, a motherly figure to Shah Rukh Khan's character Mohan Bhargava in Ashutosh Gowariker's 2004 critically-acclaimed feature Swades.

She also appeared in Rani Mukerji's Aiyyaa and Deepika Padukone's Lafangey Parindey. 

She was married to Bharatanatyam dancer N Sripathi Ballal.