She hated cinema and politics, but ended up embracing both. She became a most sought after heroine before evolving into a powerful political leader to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu three times.
Jayalalithaa has never hidden her aversion to acting and politics. More than once she said she wanted to become a lawyer like Fali S. Nariman, Ram Jethmalani and Soli Sorabjee.
She recalled how she was upset when her friends teased her saying she would also become an actor like her mother Sandhya. She locked herself in a room and cried when her mother told her to take up acting in the interest of her family.
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Despite such circumstances, Ms. Jayalalithaa took to acting like a fish to water and used to spend her leisure reading.
Actor Cho Ramaswamy, her long-term friend, once said she was a very talented actor. She coped with his spontaneous dialogues in film sets, while others fumbled. She also has a good collection of books.
She was introduced to politics by her political mentor M.G. Ramachandran, though she later confirmed that she had never wanted to become a politician. A month ago, at a function organised to celebrate the re-release of
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Ms. Jayalalithaa was first made the propaganda secretary of the AIADMK and later nominated to the Rajya Sabha. There was an attempt to sideline her after MGR’s death. She was humiliated and pushed out of the hearse. It looked that she would quit politics as many senior leaders threw their weight behind MGR’s widow V.N. Janaki.
The party witnessed a split, and both camps of the AIADMK lost the 1989 Assembly polls. Her fortunes changed after the attack on her on the floor of the Assembly. One by one, all the senior leaders returned to the party led by her. The AIADMK swept the 1991 elections, she becoming Chief Minister.