Indian film star Sowcar Janaki dies at age 94
Veteran actress Sowcar Janaki died at 94 in Chennai after a brief illness. Known for the 1950 film Shavukaru and a seven-decade career, she leaves behind tributes from across Indian cinema.
Entertainment
Veteran actress Sowcar Janaki passed away this Friday afternoon at a private hospital in Chennai. The 94-year-old actor was declared dead by Nassar, the president of Nadigar Sangam, who announced the news on Friday afternoon. She breathed her last at 1:59 pm at Kauvery Hospital in Alwarpet after being hospitalized due to age-related illnesses this week. In her last hours, she was kept on a ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit. Her body will be kept at Centoph Road in Teynampet from 5 pm for people to pay their last respects.
Career that ran nearly for seven decades
Born Sankaramanchi Janaki in Rajahmundry in 1931, she grew up in a Kannada-speaking household and made her film debut in the 1950 Telugu movie Shavukaru, directed by LV Prasad. That film gave her the name she carried for the rest of her career. She went on to work across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam cinema, appearing in more than 400 films alongside actors from Sivaji Ganesan and M.G. Ramachandran to Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. She was closely associated with director K. Balachander and appeared in films including Neerkumizhi, Edhir Neechal, Iru Kodugal and Thillu Mullu. She kept acting well into her 90s, with her last Telugu film releasing in 2023 and her last Tamil film, Biskoth, in 2020. Beyond the screen, she performed in more than 300 stage shows and worked as a radio artist earlier in her career.
Tributes pour in from the industry
Her death has created a wave of condolences from the film and political fraternity. Actor jr NTR expressed his sorrow on the demise, describing it as the cause of ‘infinite pain’ with her ‘innumerable films and contribution will live on in the memories of people’. Besides NTR, actor Kamal Haasan expressed his grief while Telangana CM A. Revanth Reddy and Union minister of Coal G. Kishan Reddy paid tribute to the legendary actress saying ‘she was a classic actress who was in demand over decades’. She was conferred with the Kalaimamani Award in 1969 and was posthumously given away the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2022.
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