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MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA DECEMBER 08, 2016 02.30 A.M.
रहने को सदा दहर में आता नहीं कोई
तुम जैसे गए ऐसे भी जाता नहीं कोई
डरता हूँ कहीं ख़ुश्क न हो जाये समंदर
राख अपनी कभी आप बहाता नहीं कोई
इक बार तो खुद मौत भी घबरा गयी होगी
यूँ मौत को सीने से लगाता नहीं कोई
माना कि उजालों ने तुम्हे दाग़ दिए थे
बे-रात ढले शम्अ बुझाता नहीं कोई
अहबाब ने ये कह के संवारी हैं चिताएँ
आराम कहीं और तो पाता नहीं कोई
साक़ी से गिला था तुम्हे मैख़ाने से शिकवा
अब ज़हर से भी प्यास बुझाता नहीं कोई
हर सुबह हिला देता था ज़ंजीर ज़माना
क्योँ आज दीवाने को जगाता नहीं कोई
अरथी तो उठा लेते हैं सब अश्क बहा के
नाज़-ए-दिल-ए-बेताब उठाता नहीं कोई
-कैफ़ी आज़मी
Above mentioned ghazal was written by Kaifi Azmi in memory of Guru Dutt. I am re-producing it in memory of Jayalalithaa.
I am not writing this blog about Jayalalithaa, the AMMA or Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader) because much has been written about her political journey and her feisty struggle after demise of her mentor MGR. There is nothing new for me to write.
I am writing about Jayalalithaa, the actor or Kalai Selvi ( artistic or work of art) of Tamil cinema.
As I watched the news of her death and her funeral procession, my thoughts went 48 years back. The year was 1968 and the place was Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. Fresh after my High School results, I went to Allahabad to pursue my academic career at the age of 15.
One day I saw the posters of a Hindi film Izzat and went to watch the movie in Pushparaj talkies. It had Dharmendra in leading role along with Jayalalithaa. Produced by A. K. Nadiadwala of Pushpa Pictures [ grandfather of now famous Sajid Nadiadwala ] and directed by T. Prakash Rao, Izzat has Lakshmikant Pyarelal as music director.
It was the movie in which Jayalalitha made her debut in Hindi films. She played a spunky Adivasi belle, Jhumki, in love with Dharmendra, who is far above her socially.
I knew Jayalalithaa’s name and reputation in Tamil film industry but was not a fan of her. When the film ended and I came out, I was a life-long fan. I became an ardent admirer of her dancing and acting talent. Just watch the famous dance scene of Izzat and you would be a fan too. My God ! what a fabulous dancer ! Posting the link.
1 – Jagi Badan Me Jwala, Saiyan Tune Kya Kar Dala ………..
The following 2 links showcase her naughty and lighter avatar, though in real life she was reticent and introvert.
2 – Ruk Ja Zara, Kidhar Ko Chala, Main Sadqe Tere Pe ………….
3 – Sar Pe Lamba Top Le Ke Aayega …….
It is sad that in her later years, she could barely move. It was heart-wrenching for me to see a feisty and fabulous dancer like Jayalalithaa in that condition. She was a woman any man could like , love and admire. She was vibrant. She was radiant. She was full of life. But during 2016 election campaign, she looked pale and lifeless. She could barely walk. I felt bad because she was only 4 years older than me. I thought that she will fight this battle too. But alas! that was not to be. She fell ill soon after her glorious political victory in elections and lost her battle of life after 75 days of struggle.
I am a fan but many Hindi film connoisseurs are not aware of her stupendous achievements in the field of cinema. For them she was Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, who was loved and feared alike.
For them I am placing some other facts of her career as a leading actress.
1 – Her acting career spanned 19 years. [ 1961 to 1980 ]
2 – She appeared in 140 films , primarily in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada film industry.
3 – She also acted in 1 Malayalam , 1 Hindi & 1 English film.
4 – As a child artiste, Jayalalithaa acted in the Kannada-language film Sri Shaila Mahathme (1961), which had Rajkumar and Krishna Kumari in lead roles.
5 – Jayalalithaa starred in English film Epistle ( 1961) .
6 – As a child artiste, she played Krishna in a three-minute dance sequence held on stage in the Hindi film Manmauji (1962)
7 – She made her debut as the lead actress in Kannada film Chinnada Gombe (1964) at the age of 15, while still in school.
8 – Jayalalithaa starred in 28 box-office hit Tamil films with M.G. Ramachandran between 1965 and 1973. The first with MGR was B.R. Panthalu’s Aayirathil Oruvan in 1965 and their last film together was Pattikaattu Ponnaiya in 1973.
9 – Jayalalitha was paired opposite Sivaji Ganesan in 17 Tamil films.
10 – Jayalalithaa acted in 10 Tamil hit films with Ravichandran .
11 – Jayalalitha had 6 Tamil films with R. Muthuraman .
12 – Jayalalitha acted in 12 Telugu films as heroine opposite N. T. Rama Rao .
13 – Jayalalitha acted in 7 Telugu films with Akkineni Nageswara Rao .
14 – Jayalalithaa’s other Telugu films included 2 films with Krishna and 1 each with Sobhan Babu, Jaggaiah, Ramakrishna and Haranath.
15 – She made her debut in Malayalam films with Jesus (1973) and the film was huge hit.
16 – Her 100th film was Thirumangalyam (1974) directed by A.Vincent.
17 – Her last film in Tamil was Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal (1980) .
18 – The last film she worked on, in which she played the lead heroine, was a Telugu film Nayakudu Vinayakudu (1980) . It became the highest grosser of the year in Telugu.
19 – Jayalalithaa holds the record for having been the Tamil actress with maximum silver jubilee hits in her career – 85 hits of 92 Tamil films as main female lead heroine.
20 – she also has all 28 films in Telugu as silver jubilee hits.
21 – She had 119 box office hits of the total 125 films she did in various languages as the main female lead between 1961 and 1980 .
22 – She was the highest paid Indian actress from 1965–1980.
23 – She made guest appearances in 9 films and 6 of her films were dubbed into Hindi.
24 – She did double roles in eight films.
25 – Jayalalithaa wrote columns in the magazines like Bommai . She also wrote a column -Ennanga Selar in magazine Tughlaq in 1970s.
Need I say anything else for her accomplishments?
It is 2 days since she is gone. I am still numb. I am deeply saddened.
Farewell Kalai Selvi ! There will be no one like you ever.
On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , I pay my tributes to Kalai Selvi (work of art) of cinema and to Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader) of political arena.
[ List of films, dates and other information about Jayalalithaa have been taken from Wikipedia .
I am indebted and I express gratitude. ]
VIDUR
MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA
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Filed under: Obituary | Tagged: A. Nageshwara Rao, Aayirathil Oruvan, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, AIADMK, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam, ANR, Chinnada Gombe, Dharmendra, Diction Trainer, Dr. Rajkumar, Film, Guru Dutt, Hindi Teacher, Izzat, J. Jayalalithaa, Jagi Badan Me Jwala Saiyan Tune Kya Kar Dala, Jayalalithaa, Jayalalithaa Jayaram, Kaifi Azmi, Kalai Selvi, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Kannada Films, M. G. Ramachandran, Maharashtra, MGR, Mumbai, N. T. Ramarao, Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal, Nayakudu Vinayakudu, NTR, Obituary, Pattikaattu Ponnaiya, Politics, Puratchi Thalaivi, R. Muthuraman, Ravichandran, Ruk Ja Zara Kidhar Ko Chala, Sajid Nadiadwala, Shivaji Ganesan, Sivaji Ganesan, Tamil Cinema, Tamil Films, Telugu Films, Thirumangalyam, Tughlaq, Uttar Pradesh, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, Vidur's Blog | Leave a comment »
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