MUMBAI: Actress Priya Tendulkar, best known for the cult series Rajani that aired on Doordarshan in the mid 1980s died following a massive heart attack in Mumbai today. She passed away at her residence at Prabhadevi in Central Mumbai, reports say. Her body was cremated in Mumbai at 7 pm today.

Daughter of noted litterateur and playwright Vijay Tendulkar, the multi-faceted personality was actress, social worker, theatre artist, writer and painter all rolled into one. After making her film debut with Shyam Benegal's Ankur in 1974, she went on to achieve iconic status with Rajani, a serial which portrayed her as a crusading housewife who battled corruption at all levels.

Her versatility as an actress is evident from the number of serials, movies and plays she acted in. Apart from acting in blockbuster movies like Itihaas , Yug and Damini, she has done innumerable serials like Kisse Miya Biwi Ke, Swayamsiddha, Mahanagar , Kabhi Door Kabhi Paas and Hum Paanch to name a few. Her love for theatre was evident from her roles in plays like Pygmalion, Anji, Kamla, Kanyadaan and Sakharam Binder. She is also the recipient of numerous Maharashtra and Gujarat state Awards .

In the 1990s her passion for political and social issues soon turned her into anchor of highly acclaimed talk shows like Zimmedaar Kaun on SABe TV and The Priya Tendulkar Show on Star Plus which won he Screen-Videocon award for the best talk-show.

As a writer she has four books to her credit - Jyacha Tyacha Prashna a compilation of short stories which won the Damani Puraskar, Janmalela Pratyekala, Panchatarankit and Asahi, a collection of the columns which she wrote for an eveninger which won the Sahitya Parishad Puraskar. Panchtarankit, a collection of essays won the Delhi Katha Puraskar award.