Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan (13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), known professionally as Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Female Superstar" of Indian cinema, she was the recipient of various accolades, including a National Film Award, a Kerala State Film Award, a Nandi Award, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award, four Filmfare Awards, including a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and three Filmfare Awards South. Sridevi's career in Indian cinema spanned over 50 years in a range of genres from slapstick comedy to epic dramas. She was known for her reticent and introverted personality, but headstrong and outspoken screen persona, regularly playing strong-willed, enlightened women. In 2013, Sridevi was honoured with the Padma Shri, the country's fourth highest civilian honour. She was also voted 'India's Greatest Actress in 100 Years' in a CNN-IBN national poll conducted in 2013 on the occasion of the centenary of Indian cinema. Sridevi made her debut as a child in the 1967 Tamil film Kandhan Karunai at the age of four, and started her acting career in lead roles as a child in M. A. Thirumugam’s 1969 mythological Tamil film Thunaivan. She continued to act as a child artist in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She made her Hindi film debut at the age of nine in Rani Mera Naam (1972). Her first role as a teen-adult came in 1976 at age 13, when she was cast in the Tamil film Moondru Mudichu. She quickly established herself as one of the prominent and leading female stars of South Indian Cinema, with roles in 16 Vayathinile (1977), Thulavarsham (1976), Angeekaaram (1977), Sigappu Rojakkal (1978), Padaharella Vayasu (1978), Vetagaadu (1979), Varumayin Niram Sivappu (1980), Meendum Kokila (1981), Premabhishekam (1981), Vazhvey Maayam (1982), Moondram Pirai (1982), Aakhari Poratam (1988), Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (1990) and Kshana Kshanam (1991).