Veteran South Indian actress Jamuna (86) has passed away in Hyderabad. With her death, Telugu film industry has lost the last of the greats of the classic era.
Jamuna, born in Hampi in present day Karnataka in 1936, dominated the Telugu screen for decades. She was also a leading star in Tamil films with stints in Kannada and Hindi films.
Jamuna’s mother tongue was Kannada. Her father, a Madhva Brahmin, married a Vysya and they moved to Andhra when she was a child.
Her father, a businessman, moved to Duggirala in Guntur district when Jamuna was seven. She started her acting career at the age of 15.
Jamuna married Professor Juluri Ramana Rao, a zoology professor in Tirupati Sri Venkateswara University in 1965. He died in 2014 aged 86. They have a son, Vamsee Juluri, a media studies professor in the USA and daughter, Sravanthi.
She acted in 198 films in Telugu and other south Indian languages. She also acted in Hindi films. She won Filmfare Award in 1964 for Milan, a remake of her Telugu film Mooga Manasulu. Her roles in films like Missamma and Sri Krishna Satya are cherished by Telugu film lovers.
Jamuna joined the Congress Party in 1980s and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rajahmandry in 1989. She lost the 1991 election and quit politics.
