Yesteryear actor Jyothilakshmi died in the city on Tuesday. She was 68. The actor had reportedly been suffering from cancer.
She is survived by her husband, Sai Prasad and her daughter, Jyothi Meena, who has also acted in a few Tamil films.
Jyothilakshmi made her debut with the 1963 movie Periya Idathu Penn , which had M.G. Ramachandran and Saroja Devi in the lead roles. All through the sixties and seventies, she was a prominent presence in many films starring top heroes from all the southern industries. A trained dancer, she had several popular dance numbers to her credit.
She starred in around 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
The late actor was also part of films starring three Chief Ministers — N.T. Rama Rao, M.G.Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa.
CM’s condolence Chief Minister Jayalalithaa issued a condolence statement, calling the actor a hardworking person who was extremely friendly.
“She was part of several projects which included movies such as Adimaipenn , Neerum Neruppum and Thedivandha Mappillai that I was a part of as well. She carved out a unique place for herself in the southern film industry,” she said, in her statement.
Her younger sister Jayamalini, who followed in her footsteps and was popular in films in the eighties, said that Jyothilakshmi was an extremely affable person. “Her talent in dance was unparalleled. Till her last few days, she was happy and independent,” she said.
In 1995, she appeared in a song alongside Rajinikanth in his movie Muthu and a few years after that, she was part of a song from actor Vikram’s Sethu that was directed by Bala.
TV career Recently, she entered the television field as well and was part of the ongoing soap Valli.
Actors Kovai Sarala, Ambika and Shakeela, and actor and director T. Rajendar were among the celebrities who paid their respects to the late actor at her residence.
Speaking to reporters, Nadigar Sangam president Nasser said that she had been extremely enthusiastic and supportive with regard to events in the industry. “Even during the recent fund raising programmes which included the cricket tournament and TV shows, she was cheerful and did not give any indication that she had been ailing,” he recalled.
There was an outpouring of condolence messages on social media as well.
Director Adhik Ravichander, who tweeted his condolences, said that the actor had a major role in his upcoming film AAA starring Silambarasan.
She had also been a part of his last release Trisha Illena Nayanthara .
