Veteran Kannada actress Jayanthi no more

Bengaluru: Veteran Kannada actress Jayanthi (76), popularly known as ‘Abhinaya Sharade,’ passed away on Monday.

She was suffering from a few ailments and died at her residence here.

Jayanthi has acted in over 500 films in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Marathi.

Born in Karnataka’s Bellary in 1950, Jayanthi’s original name was Kamala Kumari.

Her father Balasubramaniam worked as a professor of English at St. Joseph’s College in Bengaluru while her mother Santanalakshmi was a homemaker.

Kannada movie director YR Puttuswamy gave Jayanthi her first chance in his movie ‘Jenugoodu.’ He also suggested she adopt the stage name Jayanthi.

Jayanthi has acted in record 45 films with Dr Raj Kumar.