Chithra, the veteran South Indian actor popularly known as ‘Nallennai Chithra’, died on Saturday at her residence in Chennai. She was 56.
According to The New Indian Express, the actor suffered a heart attack.
Chithra, who predominantly worked in South Indian films and television serials, rose to fame in the later phase of her career with an oil brand advertisement, which earned her the moniker ‘Nallennai Chithra’.
Born to Madhavan and Devi on February 25, 1965, in Kochi, Chithra studied at the ICF Higher Secondary school in Chennai. She started her acting career as a child artist and subsequently, dropped out of high school.
She made her Tamil film debut as a child actor with director K Balachander’s Apoorva Raagangal (1975), starring actors Kamal Haasan and Srividya. The film, incidentally, also marked the debut of actor Rajinikanth. She later appeared in C Rudhraiya’s Aval Appadithan (1978).
In Malayalam, she began her career by doing small roles in films like Anugraham (1977) and Valarthu Mrugangal (1981). As an adult actor, she made her debut with Attakalasham, the 1983 film directed by Hariharan and starring actors Mohanlal and Prem Nazir.
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Chithra was part of hit films in Malayalam, such as Kalikkalam (1990), Devasuram (1993), and Pathamudayam (1985). She was known for her performances in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989), which was also directed by Hariharan, and director Sibi Malayil’s Amaram (1991). She was cast opposite actor Mammootty in both these films.
In her career spanning from the 1980s to 1990s, Chithra acted alongside some of the biggest Malayalam actors, such as Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, and Nedumuni Venu, among others. Her popular Malayalam films include Nayam Vyakthamakunnu, Ekalavyan, Rajavazhcha, Aaram Thamburan, Commissioner, and Ustaad.
She was equally busy in Tamil cinema and some of Chithra’s popular films in Tamil include Oorkkavalan, Thiruppu Munai, Cheran Pandiyan, and En Thangachi Padichava.
Apart from Tamil and Malayalam, Chithra also acted in a handful of Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films.
Several artists from the Malayalam film industry, including actors Suresh Gopi, Mammootty and Prithviraj Sukumaran, took to their respective social media handles to pay tribute to the late actor.
Chithra is survived by her husband Vijayaraghavan and daughter Mahalakshmi.