Veteran south Indian actress Jamuna passes away

Hyderabad, January 27

Veteran actress Jamuna passed away here on Friday after a brief illness.

She was 86.

She breathed her last at her house, family sources said.

Jamuna, who acted in about 200 movies in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi, is survived by a son and a daughter.

She was born at Hampi in Karnataka on August 30, 1936, but her parents Nippani Srinivasa Rao and Kowsalya Devi moved to Andhra Pradesh. She received her primary education at Duggirala in Guntur district and was a stage artiste in her school days.

Jamuna, whose real name was Jana Bai, made her acting debut at the age of 16 with ‘Puttillu’ (1953) directed by Garikapari Rajarao.

It was LV Prasad’s ‘Missamma’ (1955) which gave her recognition. She had played a supporting character in the film with the lead roles played by NT Rama Rao, Savitri and Akkineni Nageswara Rao. In a career spanning four decades, she portrayed a variety of roles and acted with the legendary actors of her time.

Jamuna also acted in 11 Hindi films. She won Filmfare award for best supporting actress for ‘Milan’ (1967) starring Sunil Dutt and Nutan. It was a remake of Telugu movie ‘Mooga Manasulu’ (1964) which featured Jamuna along with Nageswara Rao and Savitri.

Impressed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, she joined the Congress party in 1980 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rajahmundry in 1989, but quit politics after the defeat in 1991. She later joined the BJP and campaigned for the party in late 1990s. IANS