Sankaramanchi Janaki was born on 12 December 1931. She made her acting debut in 1950 in the Telugu film Shavukaru. She was thereafter known as “Sowcar” Janaki.
She made her debut to the Tamil screen in 1952 through the T.R. Sundaram directorial, Vallaiyapathi which was penned by the famous poet and writer, Bharathidasan.
She went on to star in over 400 films across seven decades, sharing the screen with – among others – Sivaji Ganesan, MG Ramachandran, Gemini Ganesan, Jaishankar, R. Muthuraman, Kamalhaasan, Rajinikanth, Karthik, Mohan, and Karthi. She also shared the screen with Santhanam in her 400th movie, Biskoth.
In 1969 she received the Kalaimamani award. In 2022 she was awarded the Padmashri, India’s fourth highest civilian award.
Janaki’s younger sister, T. Krishna Kumarie, was also a popular actress and acted in over 150 films. Her granddaughter, Vaishnavi, acted in more than 30 films, including a role as Madhubala’s sister in Mani Ratnam’s Roja.
Sowcar Janaki turned 94 on Friday, 12 December.
TOP 20 TAMIL Songs for week ending 12 June 2026
Post Views: 12 Another three new entries this week and a new number 1 song. Click here to select your favourite, or to play all
Bharathiraja passes away at age 84
Post Views: 14 Born as Chinnasamy on 17 July 1941 in Allingaram in the Theni District of Tamil Nadu, Bharathiraja braved poverty and hardship for
TOP 20 TAMIL Songs for the week ending 05 June 2026
Post Views: 18 Three new entries this week and a new number 1. Name your current favourite song, or vote for your favourite song to
Celebrating a Symphonic Career
Post Views: 21 Yesterday I listened to Illaiyaraja’s Symphony Number 1 – Valiant – on loop. I am not at all qualified to talk about
TOP 20 TAMIL Songs for week ending 29 May 2026
Post Views: 23 Two new entries and a new number 1 this week: Click here to select your favourite song from this week’s Top 20
Film Review: “Karuppu”
Post Views: 44 Suriya’s 45th film, Karuppu, has become the biggest hit of 2026 and looks set to become one of Suriya’s best performing films