« on: January 12, 2024, 01:23:24 PM »
One of the leading luminaries of South Indian cinema, J. Jayalalithaa (1948-2016) was a unforgettable polyglot star who carved her destiny out of the adversaries she faced. The 1960s and the mid-70s witnessed Jayalalithaa reigning supreme as the uncrowned queen of Tamil cinema, who had completed 100 films in a decade, no mean achievement for an actress. Some of her career highlights include the fact that she is the only Tamil actress to have the maximum number of silver jubilee hits in her career - 85 in all. She was also the first Tamil cinema heroine to wear Western clothes and shoes custom-made to match her costume. Even though Jayalalithaa featured in films opposite stellar matinee idols in most of the films, the plot revolved around the heroine and she was seldom a decoration in any of her films. Born in Melukote, in what was then Mysore State, Jayalalithaa hailed from luxury but misfortunes fell on her family when she was young.
She started her film career with the English film ‘Epistle’ (1961) post which she was introduced by ace director B.R. Panthulu in the Kannada film ‘Chinnada Gombe’ (1965) and also featured in the Telugu film ‘Manushulu Mamathalu’ and Tamil film ‘Vennira Aadai’ the same year, attracting a lot of attention. Featuring opposite MGR in ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’ (1965), Jayalaithaa and MGR’s pair became one of the most popular pairs of Tamil cinema. They worked together in 28 films and many of their films remain memorable and timeless. The Jayalalithaa-Sivaji Ganesan pair also created magic on the screen. The actress had the ability to break away from the mould and was very comfortable opposite Muthuraman, Jaishankar, Ravichandran, NTR, Kalyan Kumar and Nagesh.
Some of Jayalalithaa’s prominent films include ‘Motor Sandaram Pillai’ (1966), ‘Yaar Nee?’ (1966), ‘Major Chandrakanth’ (1966), ‘Kavalkaran’ (1967), ‘Chikkadu Dorakadu’ (1967), ‘Ragasiya Police 115’ (1968), ‘Kudiyiruntha Koil’ (1968), ‘Galatta Kalyanam’ (1968), ‘Baghdad Gaja Donga’ (1968), ‘Thikka Shankaraiah’ (1968), ‘Nam Naadu’ (1969), ‘Adimai Penn’ (1969), ‘Engirundho Vandhal’ (1970), ‘Enga Mama’ (1970), ‘Sumathi En Sundari’ (1971), ‘Pattikada Pattanama’ (1972), ‘Sri Krishna Satya’ (1972), ‘Raman Thediya Seethai’ (1972), ‘Suryagandhi’ (1973), ‘Thirumangalyam’ (1974), among many others. Writers Nalini Shivkumar and Rema Mahalingam state, “[Jayalalithaa] rewrote her destiny to be immortalized as one of the distinguished stars to illuminate the skyline of South Indian cinema. Her tempestuous life filled with trials and triumphs propelled her into two high profile careers - politics and cinema. The celluloid arena immortalized her acting and politics would record her as one of India’s most illustrious statesmen.”
« Last Edit: January 12, 2024, 01:28:22 PM by MysteRy »
Logged