Jayachitra's family is originally from Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her father Mahendra was a veterinary doctor, who had earlier worked as a lawyer. Her mother Ammaji (also known as Jayasree) was an actress, who had made her debut in the Tamil film "Mahaveeran" (1955). They moved to Chennai for work, which was where Jayachitra was born and raised as Rohini. Her grandmother looked after her, when her parents were busy with work. With her mother's encouragement, she became a child star at the age of 5 in the Telugu film "Bhakta Potana" (1966). When she was in her early teens, she screen-tested for a Telugu film titled "Beedala Paatlu," but the director felt she was too young and rejected her for the role. But he did recommend her to K.S. Gopalakrishnan who cast her as the heroine in the Tamil film "Korathi Magan," (1973) because he loved the way she delivered her lines. He signed her for three films under his banner and gave her the name Jayachitra. She continued in heroine roles in "Ponnukku Thanga Manasu" (1973) and played Sivaji's daughter in "Bharat Ratna" and was one of the 9 heroines in MGR's "Navaratnam." She was Kamal Hassan's heroine in the Tamil film "Ilamai Oonjalaadukiradhu," (1978) and its Telugu remake "Vayasu Pilichindi" (1978). As an actress, she was known for her courage and spontaneity as she continued to star in Tamil and Telugu films, as well as Kannada and Malayalam films. She faced a snake up close in "Vellikizhamai Viratham," and then a tiger in the Telugu film "Cheppindi Chesta" (1978), where she also played a karate fighter. She made other unforgettable films: "Ponnukku Thanga Manasu", "Sathyam", "Kalyanamam Kalyanam", and "Vandikaran Magan." She starred in the Tamil film "Cinema Payithiyam," remake of Jaya Bachchan's Hindi starrer "Guddi" (1971). She memorably played the title role in the Telugu film "Kalpana" (1977), a remake of another of Bhaduri's Hindi hit film "Anamika" (1973). Her leading man in the film was 'Murali Mohan'. After "Kalpana" became a hit, she was paired with him in several films, but both have denied rumors of an affair. After working for a decade as a heroine in films, Jayachitra decided to concentrate on her personal life by getting married to an industrialist named Ganesh in 1983. She has a son with him named Amresh Ganesh. Later, she became a character actress and worked for big-name directors such as K. Balachander in "Arangetram" and "Sollathaan Ninaikiren." She also directed herself in the Tamil film "Puthiya Ragam" (1991) but it wasn't a hit. After completing 200 films, she turned to television with the serial "Sumangali," which she produced, directed and acted in. It became a hit, and she was soon acting and producing other serials, "Alaigal," and "Sivaranjini" (2005). She was unanimously elected chairperson of the action committee of the TV Serial Producers' Guild of South India, which in turn led to her involvement in politics. She joined the Congress party and has remained fairly active. After completing 200 films and winning numerous awards, she decided to launch her son as a hero in films. She directed, produced, and wrote the Tamil film "Naane Ennul Illai" (2010) which starred her son, who also composed the music for the film. It didn't become a hit, and Amresh eventually decided to focus solely on music composition, becoming one of the leading music composers in India films. He married in 2016 and he and his wife had a daughter in 2019, making Jayachitra a grandmother. But she also suffered a tragic loss when her husband died in 2020, leaving her a widow.