Sowcar Janaki

Sankaramanchi Janaki, known as Sowcar Janaki, was an actress of film, television, radio and the stage whose more than 450 films spanned Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi across a career of more than seven decades. She was named for the Padma Shri in 2022 in the field of art, from Tamil Nadu ^[1].

Shavukaru

Janaki was born on 12 December 1931 in Rajahmundry, East Godavari district ^[2]. At 13 she was already a radio artist with All India Radio, Madras ^[2]. In 1949, newly married at 18, she made her film debut in Shavukaru opposite N. T. Rama Rao, directed by L. V. Prasad, and the film gave her the name “Sowcar” ^[2].

Seven decades on screen

She acted alongside M. G. Ramachandran, J. Jayalalithaa, N. T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Rajkumar, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and Prithviraj Kapoor ^[2]. Her films include Puthiya Paravai, Iru Kodugal, Ethir Neechal, Bama Vijayam, Thillu Mullu and the Hindi Teen Bahuraniyan ^[2]. She also acted in Telugu radio plays and in more than 300 stage shows of three plays directed by K. Balachander ^[2].

As a girl she took part in the freedom movement in 1946–47, worked with Durgabai Deshmukh and served as a volunteer when Mahatma Gandhi visited the Hindi Prachar Sabha in Madras ^[2]. She received the Kalaimamani, the Nandi Award and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for the South ^[2].

She died in Chennai on 21 August 2026, aged 94 ^[3].