Yesteryear actress Jamuna passed away leaving the entire Tollywood starstruck. 86-year-old Jamuna who had been suffering from age-related health problems breathed her last today at her house in Hyderabad. Jamuna was born on 30 August 1936 in Hampi, Karnataka, to Nippani Srinivasa Rao and Kowsalya Devi, she was named Jana Bai. Her parents changed her name to Jamuna on the advice of the astrologers.
Her father is a Madhva Brahmin, while her mother is a Vaisya and they had an inter-caste love marriage. Jamuna moved to Duggirala, Guntur district and Jamuna entered into films after Savitri who earlier stayed in her house invited her. She made her debut at the age of 15 in Dr. Garikapati Rajarao's Puttillu (1953). Dr. Garikipati Raja gave her the opportunity in Puttillu after watching her stage show Maa Bhoomi.
Jamuna went on to star in more than 200 films in various languages and she gained popularity for her role of Satyabhama in mythological films. She acted in 198 films in Telugu and other south Indian languages. She also acted in Hindi films, winning the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Milan (1967), repeating her role from the original Telugu film Mooga Manasulu (1964). Jamuna starred in many hit films opposite NTR, ANR, Krishna, SVR, and others and made a mark on the screen.
She started Telugu Artists Association to help budding artists for more than 25 years. Jamuna joined the Congress party in the 1980s and was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Rajahmundry constituency in 1989.[She lost the 1991 election and quit politics but briefly campaigned for the BJP in the late 1990s during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure.
Jamuna got married in 1965 and her husband was Juluri Ramana Rao, a zoology professor in SV University. He passed away in 2010 due to cardiac arrest. Jamuna was survived by her son Vamsi Juluri and daughter Sravanthi. Condolences are pouring in from all quarters from the film fraternity and political circles.