From the year 1964, with Manushulu Mamatalu and then Kathanaayakuni Katha , Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had acted in at least two dozen and more films in Telugu.
She has had the privilege of working with top actors like N.T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Krishna and Kantha Rao, to name a few. Ms. Jayalalithaa was as popular in the Telugu film industry as she was in the Tamil industry.
Some of the Telugu films she worked in include Aame Yevaru , Kanne Pilla , Goodachari 116 , Ali Baba 40 Dongalu , Gopaludu Bhoopaludu , Chikkadu Dorakadu , Tikka Shankarayya, Aasthiparulu,Premalu Pellillu, Adrushtavanthulu, Sukhadukhalu, and Devudu Chesina Manushulu . She acted with N.T. Rama Rao in 11 films and in 8 films with Akkineni Nageswara Rao, with Krishna in two films and one each with Sobhan Babu, Jaggaiah, Ramakrishna and Haranath.
N.T. Rama Rao was the first actor in India to work with mother and daughter combination — in Maya Bazaar as Krishna with Sandhya, Jayalalithaa’s mother playing Rukmini directed by K.V. Reddy and in Sri Krishna Vijayam , directed by Kamalakara Kameswarar Rao, with N.T. Rama Rao as Lord Krishna and Jayalalithaa as Vasundhara.
Ms. Jayalalithaa’s first and last film in Telugu was with Akkineni Nageswara Rao. Manushulu Mamathalu was released in 1964 and her last Telugu film Naayakudu Vinayakudu came in 1980, directed by K. Pratyagatma and produced by A.V. Subba Rao.