Bengaluru: Veteran multi-lingual actress Jayanti was awarded prestigious Padmabhushan Dr B Saroja Devi National Award in recognition of her lifetime achievement in the field of performing arts.
The award instituted in 2010, carries a purse of Rs one lakh besides a citation and will be given away at a function to be held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on April 16, according to a release by Bhavan Director H N Suresh.
Veteran Carnatic vocalist K J Yesudas, Parvathamma Rajkumar, Vyjayanathimala Bali, Dr Geetapriya, Anjali Devi, Jamuna Raman Rao, S Shivaram, K S L Swamy and Harini N Rao are the previous recipients of the award.
One of the longest standing stars on the film scene, Jayanthi’s presence in Kannada cinema, spanning over six decades, has moved from that of a young heroine to a highly bankable star and that of a mature character actor who brings centrality to her role and the film itself.
Jayanthi, who has acted in more than 500 films including in Marathi and Hindi, has won many awards including President’s award for Best Actress, State Award five times for best actress, Dr Raj Kumar award, two Film fare awards, and one best supporting actress award.
Jayanthi has been paired with top southern stars such as M G Ramachandran, Gemini Ganesan, and N. T. Rama Rao, but her screen chemistry and rapport with Raj Kumar saw her doing about 45 films with him, the maximum that any heroine has acted with the mega star.
