Legendary actor Sowcar Janaki dies at 94

• Legendary actor Sowcar Janaki passed away in Chennai on August 21. She was 94. 

• Janaki was conferred the Padma Shri award by the government in 2022 in recognition of her distinguished and lifelong contribution to Indian art and cinema.

• Janaki was born in Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh in 1931.

• Her real name was Sankaramanchi Janaki.

• She acted in over 400 movies in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. 

• She was active from 1950 to 2023, performing across generations of cinema, commanding screen presence alongside iconic personalities like NTR, Sivaji Ganesan, MGR, Gemini Ganesan, and Rajkumar. 

• Her breakthrough was in the 1950 Telugu film ‘Shavukaru’, which earned her the screen name ‘Sowcar’. 

• Her other notable movies are ‘Bhaga Piravinei’ (1959), ‘Parthiban Kanavu’ (1960), ‘Pava Mannippu’ (1961), ‘Iru Kodugal’ (1969), and ‘Bama Vijayam’ (1967).