Senior Actress Jayanthi Passes Away

Renowned Kannada actress Jayanthi, best known by her epithet Abhinaya Sharadhe passed away on Monday (July 26) in Bengaluru's Banashankari reportedly owing to age-related ailments. She was 76 and survived by her son Krishna Kumar.

Having appeared in as many as 500 films, the veteran actress had been a part of many film industries including Sandalwood (Kannada), Tollywood (Telugu), Kollywood (Tamil), Mollywood (Malayalam) and Bollywood. Jayanthi was known for her major contributions to films from the 1960s to the 1980s. Notably, she had shared screen space with legendary actors including MG Ramachandran (MGR) and Dr Rajkumar.

The senior actress had been awarded seven Karnataka State Film Awards (4 times as Best Actress and twice as Best Supporting Actress), the President's Medal for Best Actress and two Filmfare Awards in the Best Actress category among many other honours.

Jayanthi's best films include Edakallu Guddada Mele (1973), Manassinanthe Mangalya (1977), Dharma Dari Thappithu (1981), Masanada Hoovu (1984), Anand (1986), Tuvvi Tuvvi Tuvvi (1998) and Thulasi (1976).

Upon hearing the shocking news, several fans, celebrities and politicians have mourned Jayanthi's death. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has also taken to his Twitter handle to express his condolences.