Veteran actress Kishori Ballal, Shah Rukh Khan's 'Kishori Amma' from Swades, dies at 82

Kishori Ballal, veteran Kannada actress who was a part of over 75 movies and left an unforgettable mark when she played the role of 'Kishori Amma' in Shah Rukh Khan starrer Swades, died on Tuesday at the age of 82. Family sources revealed that the actress died due to age-related ailments at a private hospital, Hindustan Times reported. 

The late actress was born in Dakshina Kannada district and made her acting debut with the 1960’s film Ivalentha Hendathi. She had an impressive five-decade-long career in which she worked in over 75 movies across different languages such as Kahi, Hani Hani, Suryakanthi, Carry On Maratha and Quick Gun Murugun, among others. In the Bollywood industry, she was loved and widely appreciated for her role in Swades where she played a motherly figure to Shah Rukh’s Mohan Bhargava in 2004 critically-acclaimed feature Swades directed by Ashutosh Gowariker.

Apart from this, she also appeared in Rani Mukerji’s Aiyyaa and Deepika Padukone’s Lafangey Parindey. The veteran actress was married to dancer N Sripathi Ballal. Soon after news of her sad demise surfaced, her Swades director, Ashutosh posted a tribute to the veteran actor on his social media account.

"Heartbroken! Terribly sad about the passing away of #KishoriBallal ji. Kishori ji... you will be remembered for your generously kind, warm and affable persona! And your unforgettable performance as #Kaveriamma in #Swades !! You will surely be missed," the director tweeted.

While popular Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar tweeted, Veteran artist Kishori Ballal amma is no more, RIP.