Popular Kannada actor and winner of the President’s Award, Krishna Kumari – best known for her roles in Jaladurga and Asha Sundari – passed away in Bengaluru on Wednesday. She was suffering from blood cancer; she is survived by her daughter, Dipika.

In her more than two-decade-long career, Krishna Kumari starred in more than 200 films, which included films in Tamil, and Telugu. Her Kannada films, where she acted alongside legends such as NT Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Dr Rajkumar, were immensely popular. She also acted in one Hindi film, opposite Ashok Kumar.

She straddled the roles of goddesses and modern women with equal élan.

Some of her more popular movies include Pelli Kanuka, Aggi Pidugu, Bandipotu, Bharya Bhartalu (1961), Vagdanam (1961), Kulagothralu (1962) and Gudi Gantalu (1964).

Her debut came in 1951 with the film Navvithe Navaratnalu (Telugu).

She is also the younger sister of another popular actor, Sowkar Janaki.

She had shocked the cinema world when she chose to leave her glamorous life and chose to settle in a farm in greater Bengaluru at the peak of her stardom.

Krishna Kumari’s decision to quit her film career came after her marriage with former editor of the Indian Express and founder of Screen Magazine, Ajay Khaitan.