P. Jayadevi

P. Jayadevi (Born in 1958 and died 4 October 2023) was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and actress who worked on Tamil films. Regarded as one of the first female directors in the Tamil film industry, Jayadevi was predominantly active in the 1980s and 1990s.

Career Having begun her career as a theatre artist, Jayadevi began acting in films aged 20 and initially nursed ambitions of becoming a director. She appeared as an actress in over 40 films, before working as a producer and director, and introducing technicians such as P. C. Sreeram and Velu Prabhakaran through her ventures.

Jayadevi first worked as a director in Nalam Nalamariya Aaval (1984), and subsequently went on to make more films throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The film starred Hariharan and Khushbu in the lead roles, with a reviewer from the AllIndianSite labelling the film as "below average", noting that "Jayadevi's story is initially strong", but "the last few scenes are unpardonably slow and didactic" and that the "screenplay meanders through undulating terrain".

In 2010, Jayadevi began work on Aananda Leelai, a film about fake godmen and their women devotees. She approached Khushbu and Suhasini to play the key roles, but the project did not develop into production. She announced her intentions of directing a film during 2018.

Personal life and death Jayadevi was previously married to film director Velu Prabhakaran. She died on 4 October 2023.

Partial filmography