India, June 16 -- Indira Lankesh, whose life intertwined with some of the defining figures and institutions of modern Kannada literature while yielding a body of work and a business career of her own, died on Monday at her residence in Bengaluru. She was 83.

Her family said she died in her sleep on Monday morning following age related ailments. She is survived by her daughter, filmmaker Kavita Lankesh, her son, filmmaker and actor Indrajith Lankesh, and their families. Her eldest daughter, journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, was killed in 2017 by members of an alleged Hindutva cult.

For much of her public life, Indira Lankesh occupied a space that defied easy definition. She was an entrepreneur who built a successful saree business f...