New Delhi: Veteran actress Jamuna, who acted in about 200 movies in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi, passed away in Hyderabad on Friday (January 27) after a brief illness. She was 86. She breathed her last at her residence, family sources said. Jamuna. She is survived by a son and a daughter, IANS reported.
Jamuna was born in Hampi, 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 artist 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.
She got recognition with L. V. Prasad’s Missamma (1955), in which she played a supporting character. The lead roles were played by N. T. Rama Rao, Savitri and Akkineni Nageswara Rao. In a career spanning four decades, she portrayed a variety of roles and acted with these legendary actors of her time and other top actors of her time.
Jamuna also acted in 11 Hindi films. She won the Filmfare award for best supporting actress for Milan (1967) starring Sunil Dutt and Nutan. It was a remake of the 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 BJP and campaigned for the party in the late 1990s.
