HYDERABAD: Veteran actor T Krishna Kumari, (84) who had a prolific career in Telugu cinema in the 60s and 70s, died on Wednesday after suffering from prolonged illness in Bengaluru. She is survived by daughter Dipika.Born on March 6, 1933, in Naihati, West Bengal, Krishna Kumari made her debut in the Telugu film, ‘Navvithe Navaratnalu’ (1951), and went on to appear in over 110 films from the 50s till the late 70s. During this period, she acted alongside with stalwarts like NTR, ANR, Sivaji Ganeshan, Dr Rajkumar, Krishnam Raju, Kantha Rao, Jaggayya and Krishna. She is best known for her work in films such as ‘Bangaru Papa’ , ‘Pelli Kanuka,’ ‘Aggi Pidugu,’ ‘Bharya Bharthalu,’ ‘Vagdanam,’ ‘Kula Gotralu,’ ‘Doctor Chakravarthy,’ ‘Gudi Gantalu,’ ‘Antastulu,’ ‘Manavudu Danavudu,’ ‘Neramu Siksha’ and ‘Yashoda Krishna.’
After the Murali Mohan-starrer, Jyothi, in 1976, she took decision to stay away from films even at the peak of her career. Apart from Telugu, she had also acted in Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films. Her sister, Sowkar Janaki, is also a popular South Indian actor. “We have been living in Bengaluru for many years now. We tried our best to save her, but couldn’t,” Sowcar Janaki said.
“We shared a great bond. She was a great actress and leaves behind a void that cannot be filled. She was such a humble person despite her stardom, “ Janaki said. Several Tollywood personalities have also paid tributes to the late actor.