Actress Jyothi Lakshmi, who starred in a number of Tamil films, died on the night of 8 August, in Chennai. She had been suffering from blood cancer for some time, and had undergone treatment for it. She was 63 years old.
The actress made her debut at the age of 10 in the Tamil film Periya Idathu Penn (1963) that had Saroja Devi and MG Ramachandran in the lead. The film was widely successful and ran in the theatres for 100 days. From the 1960s, she was seen playing supporting roles and roles with negative shades, often in women-centric films.
With around 300 films to her credit, predominantly starring in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam films, including a few in Hindi, Lakshmi was lauded for her cabaret numbers and ‘item songs’ in films in the 70s. Some of her notable films are Pilla Piduga, Gandharvya Kanya, Sita Ramulu, and Donga Ramudu & Party in Telugu; Pistolwali in Hindi; Murappennu, Inspector and Manushyamrigam in Malayalam; and Kulla Agent 000, Bangalore Mail and Raktha Kanneeru, in Kannada.
An established actress and dancer, it is believed that her popularity began to fade soon after her younger sister, Jayamalini, started acting, in the late 1970s. Jayamalini, like her sister, acted in negative roles and danced on screen in nearly 500 films.
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In 2015, the actress was in the news as Telugu filmmaker Puri Jagannadh released a film called Jyothy Lakshmi. While there were reports that suggested the film was a biopic on the actress, it was later clarified by the film’s lead actress Charmee Kaur that it was a work of fiction, seeking inspiration from a book of the same title written by Telugu writer Malladi Venkata Krishna Murthy.
Lakshmi was last seen in Tamil adult-comedy Trisha Illana Nayanthara (2015) that had GV Prakash, Anandhi, and Manisha Yadav in the lead.
Picture Credits: New Indian Express