NEW DELHI, Oct 20: Veteran south Indian film siren Srividya, who starred in more than 300 films over four decades after bagging her first role when she was just 13, died on Thursday.

The 53-year-old actress, who had battled cancer for several months, died in a private hospital in the south Indian state of Kerala.

The daughter of a noted classical musician, Srividya, who used one name, launched her career with a dancing role in a Tamil language film, but most of her work was in Malayalam, the Dravidian language spoken in Kerala.

She played a variety of strong female characters, but also revealed a comic bent, portraying more humorous roles on television.—AFP