Jayalalitha established a carrier in Indian Films as an actress and is honored with several awards presented by various film organisations, including Russian Film Festival, for her acting excellence.
She made her acting debut in 1961 (as a child artist), a direct English language film 'Epistle' which was released only during 1966. She set to reprise the roles of a child in two regional languages, Hindi and Kanada, before debuting as the lead actress in Chinnada Gombe (1964), a Kanada film. The following year, she appeared opposite to A. Nageswara Rao in her Telugu debut Manushulu Mamathalu (1965).
Sridhar's Vennira Aadai (1965) brought Jayalalitha on screen before the Tamil audience.
Since then, Jayalalitha actively perused her film carrier for the next fifteen years as a lead actress in various films, made by several directors across many languages (notably Tamil and Telugu), opposite to many leading heroes - few notable names are MGR (Ayirathil Oruvan - 1965), NTR (Gandikota Rahasyam - 1969), Sivaji (Motor Sundaram Pillai - 1966) and Jayashankar (Yaar Nee - 1966).
In about twenty seven films, she paired with MGR and most of the films are still my favourites (like Arasa Kattalai & Adimai Penn):
Ayirathil Oruvan (1965), Kanni Thai (1965), Muharassi (1966), Chandrodhayam (1966), Arasa Kattalai (1967), Thaikku Thalaimagan (1967), Kavalkaran (1967), Pudhiya Bhoomi (1968), Ther Thiruvizha (1968), Kannan En Kadhalan (1968), Rahasya Police 115 (1968), Kadhal Vaganam (1968), Kudiyiruntha Koyil (1968), Oli Vilakku (1968), Kanavan (1968), Nam Naadu (1969), Mattukkara Velan (1969), Adimai Penn (1969), Engal Thangam (1970), Thedi Vanda Mappillai (1970), En Annan (1970), Kumari Kottam (1971), Neerum Neruppum (1971), Oru Thai Makkal (1971), Raman Thediya Seethai (1972), Annamitta Kai (1972), Pattikatu Ponnaiah (1973).
With Sivaji, she had enacted several types of characters:
Motor Sundarampillai (1966), Kandan Karunai (1967), Enga Oor Raja (1968), Galatta Kalyanam (1968), Dheiva Magan (1969), Gurudhatchanai (1969), Enga Mama (1970), Engirundho Vandhal (1970), Padhukappu (1970), Saveley Samali (1971), Sumathi En Sundari (1971), Needhi (1972), Raja (1972), Dharmam Engey (1972), Anbai Thedi (1974), Thai (1974), Pattum Barathamum (1975), Chitra Pournami (1976).
Apart from general roles as a heroine in mainstream films (from epic to comedy), Jayalalitha participates in fantasy tales such as Kandan Karunai (1967), playing the role of a mythological character Valli. Unnai Suttrum Ulagam (1977) sees her with Kamal Hassan.
Jayalalitha’s last appearance on Tamil screen was in the Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal (1977) and her last film as lead actress is Nayakudu Vinayakudu, the 1980 Telugu film.
Actress Jayalalitha will be among the few rare actress in Indian Film Industry who have done several challenging roles in woman centric films. She has featured in films which has titles associated with her character, making her role quite prominent in the proceedings inside the filmwork. Jayalalitha has easily walked through different genres in motion pictures, another rare feature for any Indian Actress. A carrier spanning for about twenty years as an actress, Jayalalitha has appeared in more than 135 films across five different Indian languages.
What I like about this fabulous actress Jayalalitha is her facial features, especially her apple cheeks, the pair of bright eyes between sweeping eyelashes and here ever smiling thick lips. She possesses a charm over the audience and I like her when she reacts to serious situations in the films, notably when she exposes her anger. I have also noted that she has appeared in numerous different hairdos, all of which suits her perfectly, and is quite elegantly dressed with fashionable accessories dazzling over her. Her sense of carrying herself inside the frame is professional and she holds the deadly look of cuteness sparkling within intelligence - I always admire her cheerfulness on screen. She does carry a trade mark walk, a trait completely different from other artists. Last but far from the least, her immense energy that she pushes through the screen - her Epic genre films demands a lot of physical motion and she does them all with ease and grace.
The name Jayalalitha-the actress, will ring around as long as cameras keep rolling.
Jayalalithaa Jayaraman (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) - A Celluloid Skyline.
Last edited by mappi; 6th December 2016 at 03:41 PM.
I was never a big fan of Jayalalitha as an actress, but I liked her in several of her earlier movies. I never was a supporter of several of her political positions in later years, but I admired her for her social consciousness and the way she took charge and control in a male dominant culture. I express my appreciation of what she has been as a person and many of the things that she has done for the people of Tamilnadu. Rest in peace, Jayalalitha...
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