Veteran South Actress Jayanthi passed away due to age-related ailments at her residence today (July 26). She was 76.
"Her contribution to the film industry is immense. It is an irreplaceable loss to Kannada film industry," Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa tweeted.
Jayanthi, who was called 'Abhinaya Sharadhe' (Goddess Sharadhe in acting), had acted in more than 500 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam languages. In Tamil, she acted with top stars including MG Ramachandran, Gemini Ganesan, Muthuraman and Jaishankar.
She worked with director K Balachander in many of his films such as 'Iru Kodugal', 'Bama Vijayam', 'Ethir Neechal', 'Punnagai', 'Velli Vizha' and 'Kanna Nalama'. She has also acted with former late Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa and Actress Manorama in the film 'Mugaraasi'.
Jayanthi had won the Karnataka State Film Awards seven times and the Filmfare Awards twice.