Shashikala, who left an indelible imprint playing characters that the audience loved to hate in the Hindi cinema of 1960s and 70s, passed away in Mumbai on Sunday. She was 88.

"We don't know the exact details of her demise," Birendra Nath Tiwari, president, Federation of Western India Cine Employees told PTI while confirming the news.

The Solapur-born actor’s career spanned over six decades and 175-odd films and TV serials. Shashikala Jawalkar (later Saigal) endured a deprived childhood and struggled for years doing minor parts before finding a semblance of a foothold with V Shantaram’s Teen Batti Char Raasta (1953) and Surang (1953).

It was Bimal Roy’s Sujata (1960) where she lip-synced with Nutan, ‘Bachpan ke din bhi kya din thhey’, that drew attention and earned her a first Filmfare nomination for “best supporting actress.”

The Sixties was her most rewarding decade. Old-timers remember her fleeing sandals in hand to avoid her domineering mother (Lalita Pawar) in Junglee (1961) to sing, ‘Nain tumhare mazedar’, with Anoop Kumar. Shashikala earned a mindboggling eight Filmfare nominations (Sujata, Aayee Milan Ki Bela, Himalay Ki God Mein, Anupama, Neel Kamal and Phool Aur Patthar) and two awards (Aarti and Gumrah) for “best supporting actress”. She received a nomination every year from 1963 to 67.

For negative parts such as a manipulative sister-in-law or a woman in cahoots with the villain, she was the producer’s first choice. The movie that earned her major recognition was Rajshri’s debut production, Aarti (1963). “Shashikala gives a memorable performance as (the) bitter, scorpion-tongued sister-in-law,” said The Times of India review. In Phool Aur Patthar, she memorably essayed a dancer determined to get the man she loves (Dharmendra) at any cost.

In times when actors were tied down by an image, breaking the mold wasn’t easy. But Shashikala often delivered nuanced performances. In B R Chopra’s Gumraah, she played the mysterious secretary of Ashok Kumar. The role required her to keep the audience guessing and she succeeded with aplomb “playing a colorful role in a colorful manner”, as TOI wrote.

In Bimal Roy’s Anupama (1967), she was again excellent as a talkative girl who displays her sensitive side in the final reels. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Khubsoorat (1980) too offered her the off-beat part of a married woman whose desire to dance is suppressed by a disciplinarian mother-in-law (Dina Pathak). In later years, Shashikala also acted in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and the TV show, Jeena Isi Ka Naam hai.

Among those who mourned her death on social media were Lata Mangeshkar, Padmini Kolhapure, director Anil Sharma and Farhan Akhtar. “She essayed every kind of role with felicity,” Mangeshkar tweeted in Hindi. Shashikala had received the Padmashri in 2007.