Veteran actress Jamuna passed away in Hyderabad on Friday (January 27) after a brief illness. She was 86 years old. Family sources said that he breathed his last at his residence. Jamuna, who has acted in nearly 200 films in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi, is survived by a son and a daughter.
He was born on August 30, 1936 in Hampi, Karnataka, but his parents Nippani Srinivasa Rao and Kaushalya Devi migrated to Andhra Pradesh. She received her primary education at Duggirala in Guntur district and was a stage artist during her school days. Jamuna, whose real name was Jana Bai, made her acting debut at the age of 16 with Puttilu (1953), directed by Garikapari Rajarao.
It was LV Prasad’s Missamma (1955) that brought him recognition. He played a supporting character in the film alongside the lead roles played by NT Rama Rao, Savitri and Akkineni Nageswara Rao. In a career spanning four decades, he played a wide variety of roles and acted alongside these legendary actors and other top actors of his 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 film Moga Manasulu (1964) starring Nageswara Rao and Jamuna along with Savitri.
Influenced by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, she joined the Congress party in 1980 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rajahmundry in 1989, but left politics after her defeat in 1991. She later joined the BJP and campaigned for the party in the late 1990s.