Veteran Tamil actress dead

Veteran film and stage actress S N Lakshmi died of cardiac arrest while being treated for a hip fracture in Chennai on February 20.
The 84-year-old actress lived with her brothers’ children at Saligramam in the city.
In a career spanning nearly seven decades, Sennalkudi Narayana Thevar Lakshmi acted in more than 1,500 Tamil and Telugu films, dramas and television serials.
Born in Sennalkudi village in Virudhunagar district, Lakshmi had a hard childhood as her father died orphaning her mother and seven siblings. Her mother then migrated to Virudhunagar and put her sons to work in a stone quarry, while Lakshmi and her sisters did housework.
Lakshmi soon decided to try her luck in films in Chennai, then known as Madras. As was the custom in those days, the 13-year-old girl joined a drama troupe and after many failures got a break as a dancer in the Tamil magnum opus Chandralekha (1948).
After this there was no looking back for the talented and hardworking actress. She did a number of outstanding roles as a character artiste and supporting actress in many films. Her acting skills were honed by film directors S V Sahasranaham, K Balachander, N S Krishnan and many others.
Her memorable films include Server Sunderam, Baghdad Thirudan, Idhaya Veenai, Vivasayi, Sangae Muzhangu, Udhayageetham, Jeans and Mahanadhi.
She fought a tiger during the shooting of Baghdad Thirudan (1960) without using a stuntman. This courageous feat prompted the film’s hero late M G Ramachandran to remark,” Am I the hero of this film or this young lady?”
She was the favourite choice of award-winning actor Kamalhaasan’s films like Mahanadhi, Michael Madana Kamarajan, Thevar Magan and Virumandi. Her comic timing had the audience in splits in Michael Madana Kamarajan (1990) as a kleptomaniac granny with her own fight scenes.
Though she was often cast as an old woman donning a cotton sari with horn rimmed spectacles and a forehead smeared with ash, Lakshmi managed to stand out with her acting, dialogue delivery and homely and wise looks.
A deeply religious and humble person, Lakshmi was a devotee of the late god man Satya Sai Baba and often did free service like sweeping and collecting slippers at his centres in Chennai and Puttaparthi.