Veteran south Indian actress Jayanthi 'is on the road to recovery' says son, refuting rumours of her death

On 27 March, it was reported that veteran south Indian actress Jayanthi was admitted to hospital after she complained of breathing difficulties. The 74-year-old actress was put on ventilator as her condition was a bit critical. The very next day, news of her demise spread like a wildfire; major publications carried stories reporting that the actress is no more.

Jayanthi. Facebook

Oneindia.com, in one of its reports, suggests that Jayanthi's family members have denied reports for her death claimed by some major media publications in the country. Instead, they added that the veteran is "recovering".

Jayanthi's son Krishna Kumar was earlier quoted by International Business Times, after his mother was hospitalised. He had said, "She has been suffering from asthma for 35 years. She used inhalers every day and was never admitted to hospital over breathing issues. Last evening, her health started deteriorated and she was taken to Sidvin Hospital. Based on doctor's advises, we shifted her to Vikram Hospital in Cunningham Road. The doctors have told us that she will be kept under observation for the next 24 hours. She is currently on the ventilator."

According to The Indian Express' report, the veteran is responding well to the treatment and may be discharged in a couple of days. Express' recent report quotes Kumar assuring of his mother's improving health. "I just saw her. Her health has improved from yesterday and the doctors have also expressed satisfaction. Yesterday, she did not have consciousness. But, today she has gained it, thankfully. She is on the road to recovery. She is in the ICU under strict observation," says Kumar on 28 March.

Following the viral reports on Jayanthi's supposed death, many politicians, celebrities fell for the confusion and consequentially took to social media and expressed their grief and condolences. However, as soon as the confirmation of her improving health surfaced on media, they deleted their tweets, messages and posts.

BJP leader Suresh Kumar is among one of those who faced trolls for deleting his tweet and later posting about hoax reports. He later tweeted in Kannada wishing the veteran actress a speedy recovery.

But people had already noticed the faux-pa and replied to him.

Over the years, Jayanthi has acted in more than 500 films in various Indian languages namely Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. She has also acted in films opposite legends like MG Ramachandran (MGR), Dr Rajkumar.

Her most famous films are Miss Leelavathi, Sri Krishnadevaraya and Edakallu Guddada Mele, to name a few.