Sridevi - A profile

Born Shree Amma Yanger Ayappan in southern Tamil Nadu state on August 13, 1963, Sridevi made her acting debut when she was only four, and went on to have a career spanning over four decades.

She worked in India´s regional Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam language films before entering Bollywood.

Although she made her Bollywood debut in 1979, Sridevi was able to make a name for herself in the 80's after appearing in a string of blockbuster films including "Chandni", "Mr India", "Mawali" and "Tohfa".

The actor made it big in Indian movies after her 1982 Tamil film "Moondram Pirai", playing the same role in its Hindi remake, "Sadma".

Her portrayal of a woman suffering from amnesia has been described by many critics as "a milestone in her illustrious career".

She was awarded the Padma Shri, India´s fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the film industry.

She was especially admired for her ability to overcome language barriers and for working in different regional film industries.

Sridevi appeared in around 300 films and was set to see her older daughter Jhanvi make her Bollywood debut soon.

After marrying producer Boney Kapoor, Sridevi paused her career for several years - her last film before the hiatus was "Meri Biwi Ka Jawaab Nahin" with Akshay Kumar, which was filmed in 1994 but hit the big screens later in 2004. As per NDTV report, 1997's "Judaai" was her last acting job before she made a comeback in 2012 with highly acclaimed film "English Vinglish."

Sridevi had been working steadily ever since, appearing in Tamil film "Puli" and last year's "MOM" where she starred alongside Pakistani actors Sajal Aly and Adnan Siddiqui. She will also be seen posthumously in a special appearance this year in Shah Rukh Khan's film Zero.