HYDERABAD: Veteran Telugu actor Geetanjali passed away in the wee hours of Thursday here due to cardiac arrest. She complained of uneasiness at 11:45 pm on Wednesday night and was rushed to a private hospital in Filmnagar where she breathed her last. Born on Dec 24, 1946, in Kakinada, Geetanjali is survived by a daughter and a son. A trained Bharatanatyam dancer, Geetanjali spent her childhood in Kakinada and Pune, where she performed dance shows and later moved to Chennai when she was about 14.
She made her acting debut in director BA Subba Rao’s ‘Rani Ratnaprabha’ (1960) and soon drew the attention of its lead actor late NT Rama Rao. The same year, she made her big impact with her performance as Telugu cinema’s first-ever Sita in ‘Seetharama Kalyanam,’ which marked the directorial debut of NTR. Her acting prowess made many take notice and since then she appeared in several hits like ‘Dr Chakravarthy,’ ‘Murali Krishna,’ ‘Leta Manasulu,’ ‘Bobbili Yuddham’ (1964), ‘Devata’ (1965), ‘Gudhachari 116’ (1966), ‘Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna’ (1967), ‘Sambarala Rambabu’ (1970) and ‘Kalam Marindi’ (1972).
Originally named Mani, she adopted the screen name Geetanjali during the filming of director Babubhai Mistri’s Hindi film ‘Parasmani’ (1963). In a career spanning over 50 years, Geetanjali acted in over 300 films in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. She also played an important role in Bhanumathi Ramakrishna’s TV serial ‘Athamma Kathalu’ and produced a film titled ‘Ramapuramlo Seetha’ (1981) starring Chandramohan.
Geetanjali married her co-star Ramakrishna and took a break from acting for over three decades. She made a comeback as Jagapathi Babu’s grandmother in ‘Pellaina Kothalo’ (2006) and played prominent roles in films like ‘Mogudu’ (2011), ‘Greeku Veerudu’ and ‘Bhai’ (2013). Her last film ‘That Is Mahalakshmi’ is due for release. She was also a member of the Nandi Awards committee. Her son Adith Srinivas also tested waters in the Telugu films.