J.

Jayalalitha, one of Indias most enigmatic political figures, came into politics with three disadvantages of sorts: she was a film star, a woman, and a Brahmin at that. However, over the decades, she has transformed herself into a charismatic leader of a Dravidian party that was left rudderless after the death of the iconic M.G. Ramachandran, generally referred to as MGR or (by fans) as Vathiyaar (teacher, or leader). It wasnt easy to step into the shoes of a man revered as God by his supporters, but she did so with fortitude, fighting all the way the crude, male-centric, sexist politics of Tamil Nadu. In about 500 pages and 25 chapters, Tamil writer and journalist Vaasanthi portrays Jayalalithas journey with the empathy of a woman. Here, in a conversation with Sugata Srinivasaraju she shares insights from the book, to be published by Penguin in the first week of May, just before Tamil Nadu gets a new government. Mysore to Kollywood At birth, Jayalalitha was also known as Komalavalli. The Jaya in her name was a prefix everyone in her family usedher father was Jayaram and her brother Jayakumarto emphasise their connection to the Mysore palace, the then king being Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar. Her grandfather had been the palace surgeon to the rulers of Mysore. Jayalalitha lost her father when she was two. In some autobiographical sketches she wrote in the 1970s for a Tamil magazine, she recalls vividly the image of her fathers corpse. He had died in mysterious circumstances, having squandered away her grandfathers considerable wealth. Later, the family moved to Bangalore, where her maternal grandparents lived. Her mother Vedavalli, an independentminded woman, did not want to be a burden on her parents, so she started working as a typist. Then Vedavallis sister Vidyavathi, who was an air hostess and had got some breaks in films, encouraged her to also come to Chennai to try her luck in Kollywood, which she did, taking the screen name Sandhya. She always kept in mind that she had to bring up the children well and they should lead good lives, perhaps because of the awareness that her father-in-law had been a prosperous professional and would have wanted that very much. She put Jayalalitha and her brother in school, first in Bangalore and then in Madras. First Frame Jayalalitha wanted to pursue her studies and even got her friend to get an application for Stella Maris College and obtained a seat there. But by then, her mother had persuaded her to join films, on assurance from producers stunned by Jayalalithas looks that shooting would take place only during summer vacation and the young woman wouldnt miss classes. Her first film had already been done when she was 15 and still in schoolChinnada Gombe, a Kannada film directed by B.R. Panthulu. Her first Tamil film was Vennira Aadai (1965), directed by Sridhar, and when MGR saw the rushes of this movie, he decided he wanted her to co-star in his Adimai Penn (1969). This is how her connection with MGR began, when she was still a teenager. Initially, Jayalalitha threw tantrums, saying she wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer, not an actor. But her mother said their finances were not as good as she thought it was. That decided it. Poison Tongues Jayalalitha and MGR became a popular pair despite their inter-generational age difference31 years. He was born in 1917, she in 1948. On the suggestion of C.N. Annadurai (founder of the

DMK), their first film was shot in Goa, because of the anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu. She also paired with other stars like Sivaji Ganesan, but it was with MGR that the chemistry worked. But there were forces around MGR that didnt want her to be paired with him. They felt MGR was becoming obsessed with her. They brought in other actors. They also started a slander campaign against Jayalalitha, saying she was arrogant. They accused her of not following the rules: people would be waiting for hours to meet MGR but this little girl, this woman who was born yesterday, would walk straight into his room. They also thought MGRs do-gooder image would be sullied by his dalliance with Jayalalitha, so they worked towards breaking the relationship. The Chalice Breaks Around 1970, due to the persistent efforts of some people, MGR People kept drifted away from Jayalalitha and started acting with other heroines, working to break like Lata and Manjula. She too started pairing with other heroes, her relationship including Shoban Babu, a Telugu star with whom she developed a with MGR, in the close relationship, which however did not lead to marriage. This was film world and in her first rift with MGR. As to marriage, Jayalalitha says she has politics. never been against marriage per se. Perhaps the man she may have wanted to settle down with was already married, although it was not uncommon in the Tamil film industry for married men to take another wife. Image Manager For 10 years, there was no connection between MGR and Jayalalitha; he entered politics and became chief minister in 77. It is widely believed that MGR brought her into politics; she has disputed this in an interview, saying she entered politics by choice. MGR thought Jayalalitha might make a good propaganda secretary for the AIADMK. Karunanidhi, the orator, was becoming a difficult opposition leader, always maligning MGR in his speeches, and MGR wanted a counter, someone who could speak well and pull crowds, and he was never in doubt about Jayalalithas talent. He sent his speechwriter Sholai to train her. She was formally appointed propaganda secretary in 1983. She was a great success in her new role. MGR had tried out actors like Nirmala, but it hadnt worked. It is only Jayalalitha who became a successful representative of MGR. Ms Memorious Jayalalitha used to address MGRs speechwriter as Mr Sholai. The Mr honorific was quite strange in the Tamil world those days. The first time Sholai met her, he says, he went with a speech ready. She asked him to read it. Then she asked him to repeat it once again. She made him repeat it thrice. After that, she repeated it verbatim, not missing a single word. Sholai was simply astonished. (This chimes with the apocryphal story of a national politician quoting Shakespeare to jibe at her, only to be amazed at her repartee: she quoted back from exactly where he had left off.) Sholai also remembers she had a vineyard in Hyderabad and a bungalow on Mahabalipuram road, but would tell him she didnt want anything and wanted to sell everything. She wore no jewellery either. Given the corruption charges that engulfed her during

her first term as CM, this comes across as surprising. Ammu Aggrieved As propaganda secretary, Jayalalitha became a roaring success. Seniors in the party and the coterie around MGR didnt like this. They again got down to using rumour and character assassination as weapons. Jayalalithas story is about how difficult it is for a woman to survive in politics. It is also about how one woman transformed herself to survive in that atmosphere. MGR, too, wielded tremendous control over her. In fact, he got her to stop writing about her life in a Tamil magazine. Under the influence of some party officials, he again started distancing himself from her even though she tried very hard to legitimise her relationship with him. But the cadres loved her. Meanwhile, MGR fell ill. He was shifted in 1984 to the US and Jayalalitha had very little information about his illness. Even when he came back from the US after treatment, he didnt meet her or call her. MGR was her only anchor in politics. She grew desperate and wrote a series of letters to him, which strangely got leaked. It started circulating among her political opponents. In those letters, she tells him how she yearns to meet him, asks if he has forgotten or forsaken her, argues that he is not being fair to her and wonders if he doesnt know how much his Ammu (a pet name) loves him.

In no more than three listenings, she mastered a speech, leaving her tutor astonished.

No Longer a Follower After MGRs death in 1987, Jayalalitha, a Brahmin, a Srirangam Iyengar to be precise, became the head of a party that had its roots in anti-Brahmin sloganeering. To get into the shoes of MGR was no joke. But she incredibly brought the party under her absolute control. MGRs wife Janaki, who was chief minister for a brief while, could not win the elections after his death. But Jayalalithas faction won a number of seats. It did not mean anything to the voters that Janaki was MGRs wife. To them, Jayalalitha was his heir, though MGR never openly declared her so. In fact, he never named anyone, famously saying once, like Napoleon, After me, the deluge. Draupadi Moment The budget session of the assembly in 1989 was a turning point for Jayalalitha. As an opposition leader, she said Karunanidhi had no moral right to be CM. All hell broke loose and she was manhandled, with some DMK members allegedly trying to pull at her pallu. There are photographs of her with dishevelled hair and tears in her eyes. That day, she must have sworn revenge, like Draupadi, resolving that she would re-enter the assembly only as chief minister. This incident is the root cause of her hatred for Karunanidhi. Its this enmity with Karunanidhi that has shaped all her actions. Tamil Nadu politics in the last two decades has been a fight between these two leaders. The DMK took the unthinkable decision of joining the BJP, a Hindutva party, mainly to checkmate Jayalalitha. After she had faced humiliation in the assembly, she acquired the image of a wronged woman and used it to effect. During the next election in 1991, she told people that Karunanidhi was a Duryodhana and there was a

Dusshasana among the legislators who had tried to disrobe her. The electorate responded by giving her a thumping majority. Bigger than the Master Till her first big victory in the polls, she wasnt very confident of winning votes on her own. She always thought MGR was the talisman. She would say, Vote for MGR, lets bring back MGRs After being rule. But the 1991 landslide victory, in alliance with the Congress, attacked in the gave her blinding self-confidence. From then, she saw herself as the assembly in 1989, winning face of the party. It came as a revelation to many that she she described had gradually pushed MGR to the background. There was always Karunanidhi as a this fear inside her that without MGR she was a nobody. She had Duryodhana. been terrified of being alienated from him, but now she had overcome her fears. This led to overconfidence and made her go berserk during her first term as chief minister. The gigantic cut-outs, people falling at her feet, the controversial wedding of her foster son, the scamsall this happened during her first term. She behaved maturely in her second term. Keeping out the past I like to see Jayalalithas life as a mansion in which she kept shutting one door after the other. She completely disassociated herself from her brothers family, her aunts and all her remaining blood relatives. Even her sister-in-law was unable to explain to me why she did so. In some of her writing of the early 1970s, she speaks fondly of her brother. But she no longer maintains contacts with family or friends from the early times. She underwent another important transformation. When she entered politics, she completely deglamorised herself. It was as if she wanted Jayalalithas life to shut the door on the actress chapter of her life. I dont know if, is like a mansion in her very private moments, she relives those memories. I wonder in which she has because she is also a creative person, having written a novel in Tamil, kept shutting one and therefore cannot be devoid of sensitivity. It is intriguing, door after the therefore, how she may be dealing with her memories of being an other. actress and with memeories of people from her early years. Friends have tried to contact her, but she has not responded. They have gone to her house to invite her to the weddings of sons or daughters, but she has never responded. People with a film star past are usually never without make-up. Not Jayalalitha. No hint or trace that she was once a glamorous star. This adds to my theory about her shutting doors on the past. She knew early on that women or film stars were not respected. Politicians used to often say that, after all, she was an actress, and when she gave her first political speech in Cuddalore, she faced taunts of cabaret dancer. One has to link her deglamorisation with those humiliations. The Banyan Tree

Jayalalithas only friend is Sashikala. When they met, Sashikala was running a video cassette shop, and Jayalalitha would borrow videos on rental. Somehow, she took a liking to her. Nobody knows how their relationship became so strong. In fact, only Sashikala can write a biography of Jayalalitha. She has remained loyal to her, not turning approver against Jayalalitha even when she was jailed. Jayalalitha has said that Sashikala came to help her and has become more than a sister. She says people with a family have a lot of relatives to take care of them, but she doesnt have any. Sashikala had filled the gap. Sashikala even sacrificed her husband Natarajan for Jayalalithas sake. But thats a different story. Survivor Queen As I studied Jayalalithas life, I started empathising with her. I started looking at it from a gender perspective. As a woman, I could see how she must have felt betrayed. In the film world, they tried to destroy her by not allowing her to be paired with MGR; they tried that again when she entered politics. These things wouldnt have happened if she were not a woman. We should remember that she came to politics without a pedigree. I realised as I talked to people about her how difficult it must have been for a woman to survive in the crude, male-dominated and sexist politics of Tamil Nadu. She once described her feelings with passion during an election campaign: I stand before you having come swimming in the fire of life.

Two Lives, Intertwined

Born on February 24, 1948, near Mysore, Karnataka Education

Studied in Bangalore and Madras. Is a matriculate.

Acting Career

1963 Film career begins at 15 at the prodding of mother Sandhya. Features in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam films. Last film Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal in 1980. 1970 Breaks off from mentor, co-star MGR after he chooses new heroine. Becomes friends with Telugu star Shobhan Babu. 1981 Relationship with MGR revived. Joins AIADMK the following year.

Political Career

1983 Appointed propaganda secretary of AIADMK 1984 Nominated to the Rajya Sabha. MGR hospitalised in the US following a stroke. He also undergoes a kidney transplant. Jayalalitha writes to then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Tamil Nadu governor, S.L. Khurana, saying she should be made interim chief minister in MGR's absence. This upsets MGR.

1985 MGR returns from the US 1986 Forms Jayalalitha Peravai (Conference), a parallel outfit. Sacked from her AIADMK post. 1987 MGR passes away. 1988 AIADMK splits into two factions. One backs MGR's widow Janaki and the other, Jayalalitha. Jaya elected MLA. 1989 Alleges her saree was pulled in the assembly by DMK minister 1991 Wins general elections in alliance with the Congress. Made Tamil Nadu CM. 1992 Acid thrown at IAS officer Chandralekha, allegedly over SPIC disinvestment, hits national headlines. Lawyer Shanmuga Sundaram of DMK brutally beaten up in 1993. 1995 Presides over controversial lavish wedding of foster-son V. Sudhakaran, bosom buddy Sashikalas nephew 1996 Loses power to the DMK 2001 Did not contest elections because of her entanglement in corruption cases. But AIADMK returns to power with a huge majority; becomes chief minister. After SC strikes down her appointment, O. Paneerselvan named interim CM. 2003 Supreme Court acquits her. Contests mid-term poll and wins. Becomes CM again. 2004 Case filed against The Hindu for breach of privilege of state assembly turns into a freedom of expression issue 2004 Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham arrested after the murder of a math ex-accountant 2006 Loses the elections. DMK comes to power. ***

Goddess, Me

Senior leaders routinely prostrate themselves at her feet, notwithstanding their age and political standing Newspaper advertisements put out by partymen describe her as the lighthouse of peninsular India and the godmother and saviour of Tamils A party secretary of Madras once declared himself dead and went through the cremation rites to bring her prosperity A woman party MLA with supporters dressed only in neem leaves went in procession to a temple outside Chennai to ward off evil spirits from their leader

A minister in her cabinet ate rice served on the ground at a temple to ensure a long life for the Puratchi Thalaivi ***

Colour of corruption

TANSI land deal case: Land acquired for state body sans public interest. Jaya Publications and Sasi enterprises gained Rs 3.5 crore and Rs 55.88 lakh. Coal import case: Inferior grade coal imported for state electricity board at escalated prices. Fraud put at Rs 117 crore. Pleasant Stay Hotel case: Kodaikanal: all objections by local bodies overruled by Jayalalitha as CM 40 properties across Chennai belonging to friend Sashikala and her relatives was identified by investigating agencies. ***

Trapeze artiste

AIADMK wins 1991 poll in alliance with Congress following Rajiv Gandhis assassination Ties up with BJP in 1998, but pulls out after Vajpayee declines to bail her out of court cases Attends Sonia Gandhis famous tea party in 1999 but slams her foreign origin in 2002 Cosies up to Congress after 2004 debacle, but BJP now said to be again interested in her

Comments: Few more gossips about MGR: # Fruit Shop Rajendran in Madurai lost his hand because he just held JJ from falling off the stage. MGR came to know about it and cut off the hand that touched her. # MGR brought Vijayakumar (the naattamai) to his house and whipped nonstoppingly for the affair with the actress, Manjula. # Rajinikanth underwent the same treatement due to his affair with the ex-heroine Latha. # T Rajendar (Simbu's father) is the only hero who went to his house and escacped from those lashes because MGR was advised not to thrash him and let him get publicity out of it.

# MGR house in Pallavaram, Chennai was full of skulls and bones when the house went for decoration or restoration. MGR lived like a don off screen with the help of Udayar, the Gold Eagle beer owner. The things look much murkier behind every celebrities all over the world. So, MGR was a matinee god to the ignorant poor; malicious villain to people who irritated him. The Janaki story was a known fact in Mint Street, Chennai. JJ, being a woman, I do not want to gossip about her. After JJ, it is Radhika in Tamil who has more controversial stories, whose father Radharavi who shot MGR at the latter's residence. Reasons were not investigated by Sherlock Holmes. :-) # The actors, Indirajith (Sarvam's fame) Pritiviraj (Raavanan's fame, the malayalam actor) are actually the grandsons of MGR (MGR's elder brother Chakkrabhani's daughter's sons). # MGR never wanted to have kids because he wanted to die like a bachelor. MG Ramachandran started his life as a light boy in studios and he was citizen of Sri Lanka. His actual face seems to be quite different one. Janaki's husband Ravi Bhutt or Ravi allowed her to act in one film where she was trapped by MGR. One day she dissappeared altogether which led her husband to report to police. Since police did not take any action, he filed a case in the court. Police at last arrested MGR and brought him to the court. In the court MGR agreed that Janaki was with him(escaping from her husband) but MGR emphatically told the court that his relationship with her is that of brother to a sister !!!! Whatever is this claim of brother and sister relationship between MG Ramachandran and Janaki, they went ahead ,lived together. Shortly afterwards ,Janaki's husband was hit by a speeding ambassodor car which sped away after hitting him. He died on the road. According to police version, he was in drunken condition and he was crossing the road. Car that had hit him could not be traced(obviously). Now Janaki became ,Janaki Ramachandran. Jayalalitha is an intelligent woman but difinitely she is not a very matured politician. She may even be a little bit psycho case. Her attitude towards kanchi shankara charya ,and public outcry thereafter led to her downfall in the election afterwards. According to some,she has an uncontrollable temper and emotions. There are many rumours which are very popular about her. One rumour is that she actually has a daughter with Shoban Babu, a telugu film actor who recently died. Another rumour is that the son which she claimed to have adopted is actually her own son! God knows the truth.

But difinitely she is a woman with powerful personality and she is more honest than Karuna nidhi ,AM Raja etc., It was told that MGR wanted to dismantle AIADMK and it merge with its parent party, DMK. Keeping this in mind, MGR seemed to have called Dr.M.Karunanidhi to see him at his residence. Unfrotunately, MGR was dead by the time MK arrived at his residence. That was when, emotionally hit MK recited a poetic line, "Oh, My Friend! even i death ---- you've beaten me. MGR and MK shared a very good, cordial, personal-level respect and love to each other, though politically fought to the hilt. Having attended one of the JJ-without-MGR political processions in 80s as a boy, I'd still say she is a crowd puller. That's it! This article mostly seems to be true with facts. It's a typical story of any film artistes (especially heroines) in the world of cinema. My naked-eye experience with JJ: I remember one of those sunny days standing at the traffic signal in the Beach Road, Chennai, till JJ's SUMO with all bodyguards passed by ( a painful experience given by a honorable Chief Mainister to public). Another incident were on LB road when she shifted her house to South Chennai due to some astrological reasons, waited for her parade to leave the road in the morning during a week day (another public nuisance caused by JJ). It was told that MGR never had had a good life till his 30s, especially with women. MGR happened to have addicted to women during his career peak in cinema and politics. MGR won the hearts of Tamil Nadu by his social statements and political aspiration in throughout his films, by the time people realized his real face. I love MGR as an actor; not the politician as he did nothing marvellous as a Chief Minister. One example of his goof-ups, Tamil Nadu had to let the electronics industry (base for today's IT) set up in Karnataka during his regime, as he was not willing to provide subsidies to the Japanese industrialists. MGR seemed to have a team of wellwishers 24X7 around him. MGR created popular leaders such as Nedunchezhiyan, RM Veerappan, PH Pandyan, Panruti Ramachandran, the list goes on. MGR also seemed to have followed good management techniques - Chain of Command, Delegation of Work, Decentralization of Work, etc. He was a good people's manager and a "visionary of his own goals" Jayalalithaa could not create the same aura that MGR created because she could neither self-market nor create a word-of-mouth technique. Whereas, MGR was good at mareketing and branding himself and his ideas. MGR was and MK is good and genuine at their basics - acting and writting respectively. JJ never wanted to be in films; never wanted to be in politics ---- so she still could not find herself out what she is good at. Both MGR and MK were part of social revolution that was spread across India during then. People were also ignorant; less educated and exposed; poor to look out for an idol to resolve their problems.

JJ doesn't have any agenda till today. She wants to be a queen-bee wherever she is, because of her high self esteem. I bet, If she can act as a top heroine with Sharukh Khan today, she will throw politics for cinema. JJ is an opportunistic politician in my observation. Moreover, people are no more stupid to fall for stardom. Any performer, given opportunity, can handle the Chief Minister role nowadays. MK Stalin seems to be the most groomed and trained Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu as of today, though the gang-rape-effort of corruption is unfathomable. I don't think JJ might have changed much from her basic characteristics as nothing had happened to her life. There was no death or birth or assoication or separation of any relationship ever happened in her life before or after her last Chief Minister stint. I leave the verdict to people who need those changes. All the best to Dr.Jayalalithaa and MK Stalin!