Jayalalithaa was ruling the roost in Tamil films when she chose to do Izzat , the only Hindi film she’s acted in. This film, co-starring Dharmendra and Tanuja, was directed by T. Prakash Rao, and saw Jayalalithaa play effervescent tribal girl Jhumki, who falls in love with city-bred Dharmendra.
Speaking about his association with the actress, Dharmendra recalls: “We stayed in Kulu Manali for a month-and-a-half. The entire unit bonded like a family. It felt very nice. Jayalalithaa ji ’s mother was also with us, and they were very cordial to all. Sometimes, her mother would cook South Indian food for us. Time flew by in their midst.”
Post that, whenever the actor visited Madras, he says he would call or visit Jayalalithaa. “She would call up and speak too. Later, when she got busy with politics, I kept track of her work through newspapers. She was such a dignified lady,” he says.
During shooting, he says Jayalalithaa was a livewire, infusing Jhumki with sass, as she danced her way into the hearts of both the hero and the audience. On the sets, she would speak to all and her laughter was infectious, he says. But, once her work was wrapped up, she would recede to a corner with her books. “She would keep reading, I don’t know what. I thought it was not polite to ask. And, it’s not nice to disturb someone when they are lost in the world of letters,” says the actor.
Jayalalithaa’s death, says Dharmendra, “is a very big loss. I, the industry, the State, the nation… will all miss her. She will continue to live on in our hearts”.
The veteran actor says that he switched off the television finally, unable to bear seeing her lifeless body, and her followers wracked by grief. “But, after a while I switched it on again. I don’t know why…”
