She had a crush on Shammi Kapoor; she never met him, but loved his “Yahoo!” in Junglee (1961). One of her favourite songs was the spiritual ‘Ae maalik tere bande hum’ from Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) and the peppy, romantic ‘Aaja sanam madhur chandni mein hum’ from Chori Chori (1956).
All these sweet details from her candid interview in Rendezvous With Simi Garewal are, perhaps, all that we know of the Bollywood side of Jayalalithaa.
As an actress, her tryst with Hindi films was all too short-lived and fleeting. She is known to have danced as Lord Krishna in an uncredited cameo in the 1962 Hindi film Man Mauji, starring Kishore Kumar and Sadhana.
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Her only full-fledged role in a Hindi film came in the 1968 film Izzat, where she played a tribal girl in love with Dharmendra and danced to the popular Lata Mangeshkar song, ‘Jagi re badan mein jwala, piya tune kya kar dala’.
She is said to have confined herself to films in the South at the behest of the most dominant presence in her life: her family, friend, philosopher, guide and mentor, M.G. Ramachandran.
Izzat was a flop which could have deterred her from pursuing a career in Hindi films. Eventually, this also helped consolidate her political presence in the South.
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Interestingly, her indifference to Hindi cinema came at a time when actresses from the South were ruling the industry.
In 1968, when Jayalalithaa appeared in Izzat, Hema Malini made her debut in Hindi films with Sapno Ka Saudagar and carried forward the legacy of Vyjayanthimala, who dominated the 50s and the 60s. Much later, Rekha and Sridevi carried on as the top heroines in the industry.
Transcending borders
Jayalalithaa may have hardly acted in Hindi films, but several of her films from the South were dubbed and released in Hindi in the ’70s. According to Hyderabad-based film enthusiast Lakshmipriya, these include titles like:
BAGHAVAT [1971, Gandikota Rahasyam, Telugu] Director: B. Vittalacharya Starring: Devika, Jayalalithaa, N.T. Rama Rao, Rajanala, Allu Ramalingaiah, Hemalata, Prabhakar Reddy, Raj Babu & Thyagaraj
BARAH GHANTE [1975, Dhikku Theriyatha Kaattil, Tamil] Director: N.C. Chakravarthy Starring: Baby Sumathi & Jayalalithaa
HARE KRISHNA [1974 Sri Krishna Vijayam, Telugu] Director: K. Kameshwar Rao Starring: Hema Malini, Jamuna, Jayalalithaa, N.T. Rama Rao, Devika, Kanta Rao, Naag Bhushanam, Ram Prabha, Rukmini, S.V. Ranga Rao
JAI JAGAT JANANI [1976 Aathi Parasakthi, Tamil] Director: K. S. Gopal Krishan Starring: Jayalalithaa, Padmini, Rajashree, Vanisree, Gemini Ganesan, Ragini & S. Varalaxmi
KOI GHULAM NAHI [1970 Adimaippenn, Tamil] Director: K. Shankar Starring: Ashokan, Chandrababu, M.G. Ramachandran, Manohar, Baby Rani, Jayalalithaa, Jyothi Lakshmi & Pandari Bai
SHEHZADI MUMTAZ [1977 Baghdad Perazhagi, Tamil] Director: Ramanna Starring: Jayalalithaa, Jayasudha, Ravichandran, Savitri, Nagesh Ashokan, Shakuntala & Shobha
TUHI RAM TUHI KRISHNA [1976 Sri Krishna Satya, Telugu] Director: K.V. Reddy Starring: Kanta Rao, N.T. Rama Rao, Padmanabhan, S.V. Ranga Rao, Devika & Jayalalithaa
AAKHIRI NISHAN [1974 Kanavan, Tamil] Director: P. Neelakantan Starring: Ashokan, Jayalalithaa, M.G. Ramachandran, Manohar, Chow, Jyothi Lakshmi, Manorama, Shakuntala & Vijaychandrika