Sriranjani was born in Murikipudi village of Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. Her elder sister Senior Sriranjani was also an actress and is the first Sita of the Telugu screen.Her birth name is Mahalakshmi. She had grown up with her elder sister and developed interest in movies and acting. Chitrapu Narayana Murthy encouraged her and gave her chance to act in the film Bhishma (1944). She subsequently acted in Gollabhama, Brahmachari, Gitanjali, Madalasa, Laila Majnu etc., Her life turned brighter with heroine character in Gunasundari Katha in 1949 directed by famous Kadiri Venkata Reddy. In this film her Gunasundari character established her in the industry. She subsequently acted in the Tamil version of Gunasundari Katha and obtained critical reviews. She acted as heroine in the magnum opus Chandraharam. Though she acted in many films like Mantradandam, Sankranthi, Prema, Bratuku Teruvu, Svayamprabha, Ramanjaneya Yuddham her best portrayal was the all-time hit of Gunasundari Katha.

In her Tamil film Parasakthi (1952), Sriranjani portrayed the male ideal of virtuous Hindu womanhood. In the same year, she also starred with MGR in the movie Kumari. Another serious role of Sriranjani was as Chandra (the wife of the hero, a lothario who suffers from leprosy) in Ratha Kanneer (1954) Tamil movie. Sriranjani played Rajee in the Tamil film Rajee En Kanmani (1954), the blind flower seller who regains sight, thanks to the unknown benefactor. The film is based on the City Lights (1931) of Charlie Chaplin.

She retired from films in 1960, but returned to cinema field to play a few guest roles, usually of elderly mother figures. She died in 1974.