Jayachitra hails from Kakinada in Andhra. Her father Mahendra is a veterinary doctor. He has also worked as a lawyer. Since he moved to Chennai to work, Jayachitra was born and brought up in Chennai. She was named Lakshmi Krishnaveni Rohini Parvathi Devi.
Her mother Jayasree used to be an actress. She made her debut in the 1955 Tamil film ‘Mahaveeran.’ Since her mom was an actress, Jayachitra became a child star at the age of 5 in Telugu film ‘Bhaktabodana.’
She was introduced into Tamil films by KS Gopalakrishnan in ‘Kurathi Magan.’ It was Gopalakrishnan who re-christened her Jayachitra for films. She became heroine in P Madhavan’s ‘Ponnukku Thanga Manasu’ (1973). She played Sivaji’s daughter in ‘Bharat Ratna’ and was one of the 9 heroines in MGR’s ‘Navaratnam.’ She was Kamal’s heroine in Sridar’s ‘Ilamai Oonjalaadukiradhu.’ Her roles in Balachander’s ‘Arangetram’ and ‘Sollathaan Ninaikiren’ marked her as a character actress.
In 1983, Jayachitra married an industrialist named Ganesh.
