Actor Sowcar Janaki dies at 94

Sivaji Ganesan and Sowcar Janaki in Uyarndha Manithan. (Express archive photo)

Sowcar Janaki’s passing marks the end of one of the longest and most distinguished careers in Indian cinema. She was among the last surviving links to the golden age of South Indian filmmaking, an era that included titans like Sivaji Ganesan, N.T. Rama Rao, A. Nageswara Rao and Dr. Rajkumar, all of whom she shared the screen with at various points in her career, which began in 1950 with LV Prasad’s 1950 Telugu film Shavukaru.

Janaki entered Tamil cinema two years later with TR Sundaram’s Valayapathi, followed by her Kannada debut in Devakannika in 1954. After establishing herself across the three industries, Janaki ventured into Malayalam cinema a decade later with SR Puttanna Kanagal’s School Master.

Sowcar Janaki made her television debut in 1991 with the Tamil show Oorarinda Rahasyam, which aired on Doordarshan. The same year, she was seen in Tamil TV anthology Penn, directed by Suhasini Maniratnam. She continued to work sporadically on TV, all the way till 2014.

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Her last theatrical appearance was in the 2023 Telugu film Anni Manchi Sakunamule, directed by Nandini Reddy, where she played the role of a grandmother.

In 2022, at the age of 90, Janaki was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contribution to Indian cinema. She had previously been honoured with the Kalaimamani award by the Tamil Nadu government and had received multiple Nandi Awards from the Andhra Pradesh government over the course of her career.