While watching her enthralling a capacity crowd of dance enthusiasts in Eloor, none in the audience would have imagined that this lean teenager would conquer the masses - first with her mesmerising performances on screen and then with her leadership skills.
As news of the death of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa broke, some who were part of the audience in Eloor recalled her Manipuri dance performance as a 18-year-old starlet at the crowded Udyogamandal Theatre a half century ago.
The occasion was the first anniversary celebrations of the FACT Lalitha Kalakendra, a centre of cultural activities for the employees of Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) at Udyogamandal in April, 1967. She was said to have been paid Rs.25,000 as remuneration, a hefty amount at the time.
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T.R.S. Menon, who helmed the organisation for just over two decades, still has vivid memories of the sublime performance that lasted nearly an hour. “The performance of Kumari Jayalalithaa and party was one of the major attractions of the three-day event. Her performance began soon after actor Sathyan delivered the inaugural address,” he said.
It was M.K.K. Nair - the then Managing Director of the company and an avid art lover - who insisted on bringing the rising Tamil star for a performance here. K.A. Krishnan was the general secretary of Lalitha Kalakendra during that period, while Mr. Menon, who had joined the company as an Assistant Manager with the Finance Wing in 1965, was an active member of the cultural outfit.
In fact, Jayalalithaa was one among the many renowned artists performed at the venue. “Nair sir’s penchant for art and culture was such that several renowned artists such as Padma Subramaniam, Sonal Mansingh, M.S. Subbulakshmi and Balamuralikrishna performed there,” he added.
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K. Chandran Pillai, the national secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, was a sixth standard student at the FACT High School at Udyogamandal when Jayalalithaa performed there. “I still remember the excitement over the arrival of Sathyan, who was a super star then, though I cannot recollect much about the dance performance. However, elders in Udyogamandal and nearby areas used to talk about it for long,” Mr. Pillai said.