Veteran actor Sowcar Janaki, who has acted in more than 400 films across South Indian languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, has been admitted to Kauvery Hospital in Alwarpet, Chennai, due to health complications.
News of Sowcar Janaki’s hospitalisation prompted members of the South Indian Artistes’ Association (Nadigar Sangam) to visit her and enquire about her health. President Nassar, along with actors Soundararaja and Hemachandran, met the veteran actor at the hospital.
Sowcar Janaki made her film debut with LV Prasad’s 1950 Telugu film Shavukaru. She 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, in which she played the wife of Johny, portrayed by Sivaji Ganesan.
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.
Her journey in the new millennium started with playing the grandmother of Mythili (Vasundhara Das) in Kamal Haasan’s 2000 Tamil period crime drama Hey Ram. She was last seen in BV Nandini Reddy’s 2023 Telugu romantic drama Anni Manchi Sakunamule.
Sowcar Janaki was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2022.
