Chennai : Much before she won over people in her political avatar, J. Jayalalithaa was the uncrowned queen and a very popular pin-up star of Tamil cinema during 1960s and 1970s.
For all her reluctance to be an actor, her journey as one of the leading luminaries of south Indian cinema is more dramatic than any film script.
Though born in the lap of luxury, bad times fell upon the family when Jayalalithaa was very young, forcing her to follow her mother’s footsteps into acting in order to support the family. As an individual, Jayalalithaa hated limelight. In an interview to Simi Garewal, she had said, “I have been propelled by fate into two high-profiled careers (second being her stint as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu).”
In 1961, when she was barely 12, her first association with celluloid came in the form of English film, “Epistle”, directed by Shankar Giri. Ace director B.R Panthulu introduced her in a leading role in 1964 Kannada film, “Chinnada Gombe”, and her performance in the film garnered a lot of attention.
Jayalalithaa was known to reinvent on screen and she didn’t hesitate to take up glamorous roles, even if it required her to wear sleeveless blouse and tight-fitting salwar kameezes. She was reportedly the first leading lady of Tamil filmdom to wear Western clothes. Her performance as a prostitute turned wife in “Engirundho Vandhal” propelled her to the forefront of filmdom.
The 1972 Tamil film “Pattikada Pattanama”, Jayalalithaa won the best actress Filmfare award. The film also won a National award.
In about a decade during 1960s and mid 1970s, Jayalalithaa had starred in over 100 Tamil films and at one point was tipped to be the highest paid actress of the industry.
She made her last on screen appearance in Tamil film, “Nadhiyal Thedi Vanda Kadhala (1980), and by then was nursing her political ambitions. In 1982, she became an AIADMK party member. In the political circuit, she was popularly known as “Puratchi Thalaivi’, meaning a revolutionary leader for her aggressive brand of politics. In 1991, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time. From then on, her journey as Amma started. –IANS
