Watching the syrupy rendezvous of Madam Jayalalithaa with Simi
Garewal after a day of heavy sea sentiments from all people gives you a
good sense of life that Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had lived since
she was born. As she herself confessed, a third of her life was
consumed by the attentive care of her mother and another third by the
grasping vigil of the late MGR. So all the disruptions of the last third
of her life seemed like undulating musical notes of a score composed by
a leader who wanted to live life finally on her terms. And the way she
did, it proves the will of the lady hard as nails – never budging, never
relenting whether the opposition is a thespian like Karunanidhi, or an
actor like Kamal Hassan or a seer like Sri Jayendra Saraswati.
If you have to examine her life, it has more drama, twists and turbulence than the length of the character of Aiswarya co-terminous with what Mani Ratnam created in the film “Iruvar”. As is evident now, not many lady politicians in world history have moved to a vantage position of strength starting with the disaffections and detriments that Jaya has faced. Father gone at age 2, separated from mother from age 5 to 10, pushed into different career choice from age 16, mother gone at age 23, some relationships not materializing into marriage later, and then the insurmountable barriers to her final ascent after the man who mentored her film career and built the foundation of political career – MGR – passes away in 1987. The odium she had to endure in the societal stereotypes of the 1980s instead of pushing her down became the podium of strength which zipped her forward. This is where Hillary Clinton, Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto and Sonia Gandhi had much better upstart than Jayalalithaa Jayaraman. And then came the twin-sagas of humiliation at assembly and the dark-age dungeon she was thrown in the late 80s which didn’t break her spirit or her tenacity. In the first episode resembling the disrobing of Draupadi, it made Jaya take vow without any Lord Krishna’s help to step back in the Assembly only as a CM (which she did)). In the other episode which lasted many days in the inhuman prison cell of Chennai, Jaya had to withstand privations that even the likes of Tanguturi Prakasam couldn’t endure. Many felt it is persisting with the woeful prison days that most of Jayalalithaa’s ill-health started – which took a final toll on her life.
Winning six terms is no mean achievement for any seasoned politician but Jaya did it with impunity and alacrity. Her stamina and the fire in belly never dipped and neither has her appetite for firing salvos on her greatest foes – and each term was getting better than the previous in terms of her dignified responses, even as her political opponents turned more vicious and treacherous. As a state politician, she was vainglorious about her party, her constituencies and her political stakes and that defined most of the terms of engagement with the world outside her state – be it centre, press or FDI. An example is the way she influenced the late N T Rama Rao in the 80s to firestart the Telugu Ganga project which helped Chennai tide over the water crisis. NTR agreed to divert Krishna river water but only if Jaya agreed to “Telugu Ganga”. Jaya agreed and the people of TN were grateful for the gesture. In many other cases, Jaya’s sneezes and coughs during the NDA government’s tumultuous term between 1998 and 2004 distorted her image as a dependable ally making even stock markets dance to her tunes like the Pied Piper of Hamlin but Jaya took stand on issues which merely strengthened her image in the state. Not many Chief Ministers had the assertiveness that Jaya had in dealing firmly with the centre.
Her fight with the Seer of Kanchi showed her obstinacy. While the real issue turned out to be over the sellout of a Medical College which the seer escalated to the centre igniting Madam’s wrath, the world attention was on another angle. She was clear on building the kind of legacy that the poor will remember in all the franchisees of shops dishing out medications to rice. But she was also aware of giving a stable and efficient administration that unlocks the human potential of TN especially in continuing the massive reservation policy which was flagged off first by the late MGR. Jaya has ensured the state has maintained a balance between Welfare economics and Economic Growth. In 1983-84, Tamil Nadu produced only 2000 engineering graduates but now more than two lakh engineers graduate out of 652 colleges. While reservation in educational colleges went up from 30 per cent to 69 per cent, the trend of private groups starting professional courses caught on with other states like AP, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The best thing is the way clearances were given for making Manufacturing hubs in and around Chennai beginning with Auto manufacture and allied components. Today, TN has more hubs and well-developed tier II and III towns than any other state, tag of the most urbanized state in the country, more diversified industries evenly distributed among the districts and industry growing above the national average. Until the Gujarat model came, TN was always shining as the third largest in terms of GDP growth rate, according to noted journalist Susheela Ravindranath from her book SURGE . And Chennai is among the top 10 most attractive outsourcing locations globally (ranked no.5). When the big flood came last year, despite casualties and much flak from the citizens, Jaya government managed to keep the news of death of dozens of cab drivers in IT hub hushed up so that the image of Chennai as India’s second-largest exporter of IT services remains intact. So much for her policies, Tamil Nadu also attracted the pledge of Rs.2.4 lakh crore worth of investments last year, double the initial target. The Niti Ayog also mentioned that the amended Land Acquisition Act of Tamil Nadu is the ideal benchmark worthy of emulation by all other states in India. The activation of Economic growth engines that happened in Jaya’s term shows that CM Jaya not only read the pulse of the poor by dishing out freebies and pamering them with cheap food but also the mood of the skilled manpower and the resourceful entrepreneurs of the state in harnessing opportunities that can propel the state forward.
All the achievements of Jaya the CM show her to be extremely skillful, proactive and feedback-oriented which allowed her party to consolidate position to unassailable lead over DMK and other rivals. But the film career is something that is equally nonpareil for any film star. Fluent in all the South Indian languages, She acted in an English film ‘Epistle’ and a Hindi film `Ijjat’ besides over 140 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Right from her debut Tamil film “Vennira Adai”, she had a charishma and cuteness that made her the most-sought-after heroine of the 60s and 70s. Supple and svelte, graceful and gaitly and gifted with a willowy dancing form, Jaya had tasted success from her first film making the top stars of the South cast her in consecutive films. Look at the pairing in her journey – 28 films with MGR, 17 films with Sivaji Ganesan and 11 films with NTR besides acting with every top and emerging hero of those times – Rajkumar, ANR, Shoban Babu, Krishna, Ravichandran, Kalyan Kumar, and others achieving a 80 per cent superhit rate. Almost all the heroes enhanced their auras because of the glamor oozed out by Jayalalithaa.
Naturally, she won three Filmfares which includes the very first Filmfare for Best Actress Award in 1972 when it was introduced. One of them was for a Telugu film “Sri Krishna Satya” in 1972. She also dubbed her own voice (something today’s heroines ought to learn) and sung a couple of songs including with legends like T.M.Soundarajan and S.P.Balasubramaniam. Unlike others, she resisted temptation to act in more films after plunging into politics. That’s what set her apart from other actor-turned-politicians. Despite delivering huge hits and being the highest paid actor for some years, she never compromised on her roles and performances and more importantly, never threw her weight around.
As her many interviews and lighter moments reveal, Jaya raced to the top of the films and then aced up on how to crack it in politics. Ambition and serene confidence drove her from films to politics and everywhere she dominated the scene – in films, for example, it was she who replaced B.Saroja Devi who acted in 27 films with MGR to overtake her in the pairing. She acted in roles which had western costumes as well as mythological characters like Satya Bhama. Even as she cruised to the top spot in Tamil films, her foundations for a political career were carefully laid through her multilingual fluency and English which remained her forte in films. Reading novels, current affairs and nonfiction and writers like Ruskin Bond came easy for her finessing her world views and sensibilities.
Shaping her career and achieving her goals became a heuristic progression for her – something that many women politicians in India and the world lack in depth. Not many have shown the resilience and the steely resolve that Jayalalithaa has shown, neither have they shown how to perfect the poise and the carefully cultivated public calm that she displayed always. It is tough to survive and thrive in both the worlds of films and politics especially when both are dominated by men but Jaya’s life and times show that with grit and guts, even a woman can achieve glory and public adulation if she determines. That is her greatest legacy to women in particular and Indians in general. Life kept changing plans for her from the time she was born, but she kept pushing ahead in her own ways until the terms became endearing for her until the last. Salute the Iron Lady who could have also played a national role had the stars aligned. Yes, there were issues of nepotism, conceit, corruption, delusions of greatness and superstitious beliefs (from Numerology and Vaastu to Astrology) but her personality overshadowed her fixations and made her one of the most epoch-making Diva-turned politicians of our time.
If you have to examine her life, it has more drama, twists and turbulence than the length of the character of Aiswarya co-terminous with what Mani Ratnam created in the film “Iruvar”. As is evident now, not many lady politicians in world history have moved to a vantage position of strength starting with the disaffections and detriments that Jaya has faced. Father gone at age 2, separated from mother from age 5 to 10, pushed into different career choice from age 16, mother gone at age 23, some relationships not materializing into marriage later, and then the insurmountable barriers to her final ascent after the man who mentored her film career and built the foundation of political career – MGR – passes away in 1987. The odium she had to endure in the societal stereotypes of the 1980s instead of pushing her down became the podium of strength which zipped her forward. This is where Hillary Clinton, Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto and Sonia Gandhi had much better upstart than Jayalalithaa Jayaraman. And then came the twin-sagas of humiliation at assembly and the dark-age dungeon she was thrown in the late 80s which didn’t break her spirit or her tenacity. In the first episode resembling the disrobing of Draupadi, it made Jaya take vow without any Lord Krishna’s help to step back in the Assembly only as a CM (which she did)). In the other episode which lasted many days in the inhuman prison cell of Chennai, Jaya had to withstand privations that even the likes of Tanguturi Prakasam couldn’t endure. Many felt it is persisting with the woeful prison days that most of Jayalalithaa’s ill-health started – which took a final toll on her life.
Winning six terms is no mean achievement for any seasoned politician but Jaya did it with impunity and alacrity. Her stamina and the fire in belly never dipped and neither has her appetite for firing salvos on her greatest foes – and each term was getting better than the previous in terms of her dignified responses, even as her political opponents turned more vicious and treacherous. As a state politician, she was vainglorious about her party, her constituencies and her political stakes and that defined most of the terms of engagement with the world outside her state – be it centre, press or FDI. An example is the way she influenced the late N T Rama Rao in the 80s to firestart the Telugu Ganga project which helped Chennai tide over the water crisis. NTR agreed to divert Krishna river water but only if Jaya agreed to “Telugu Ganga”. Jaya agreed and the people of TN were grateful for the gesture. In many other cases, Jaya’s sneezes and coughs during the NDA government’s tumultuous term between 1998 and 2004 distorted her image as a dependable ally making even stock markets dance to her tunes like the Pied Piper of Hamlin but Jaya took stand on issues which merely strengthened her image in the state. Not many Chief Ministers had the assertiveness that Jaya had in dealing firmly with the centre.
Her fight with the Seer of Kanchi showed her obstinacy. While the real issue turned out to be over the sellout of a Medical College which the seer escalated to the centre igniting Madam’s wrath, the world attention was on another angle. She was clear on building the kind of legacy that the poor will remember in all the franchisees of shops dishing out medications to rice. But she was also aware of giving a stable and efficient administration that unlocks the human potential of TN especially in continuing the massive reservation policy which was flagged off first by the late MGR. Jaya has ensured the state has maintained a balance between Welfare economics and Economic Growth. In 1983-84, Tamil Nadu produced only 2000 engineering graduates but now more than two lakh engineers graduate out of 652 colleges. While reservation in educational colleges went up from 30 per cent to 69 per cent, the trend of private groups starting professional courses caught on with other states like AP, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The best thing is the way clearances were given for making Manufacturing hubs in and around Chennai beginning with Auto manufacture and allied components. Today, TN has more hubs and well-developed tier II and III towns than any other state, tag of the most urbanized state in the country, more diversified industries evenly distributed among the districts and industry growing above the national average. Until the Gujarat model came, TN was always shining as the third largest in terms of GDP growth rate, according to noted journalist Susheela Ravindranath from her book SURGE . And Chennai is among the top 10 most attractive outsourcing locations globally (ranked no.5). When the big flood came last year, despite casualties and much flak from the citizens, Jaya government managed to keep the news of death of dozens of cab drivers in IT hub hushed up so that the image of Chennai as India’s second-largest exporter of IT services remains intact. So much for her policies, Tamil Nadu also attracted the pledge of Rs.2.4 lakh crore worth of investments last year, double the initial target. The Niti Ayog also mentioned that the amended Land Acquisition Act of Tamil Nadu is the ideal benchmark worthy of emulation by all other states in India. The activation of Economic growth engines that happened in Jaya’s term shows that CM Jaya not only read the pulse of the poor by dishing out freebies and pamering them with cheap food but also the mood of the skilled manpower and the resourceful entrepreneurs of the state in harnessing opportunities that can propel the state forward.
All the achievements of Jaya the CM show her to be extremely skillful, proactive and feedback-oriented which allowed her party to consolidate position to unassailable lead over DMK and other rivals. But the film career is something that is equally nonpareil for any film star. Fluent in all the South Indian languages, She acted in an English film ‘Epistle’ and a Hindi film `Ijjat’ besides over 140 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Right from her debut Tamil film “Vennira Adai”, she had a charishma and cuteness that made her the most-sought-after heroine of the 60s and 70s. Supple and svelte, graceful and gaitly and gifted with a willowy dancing form, Jaya had tasted success from her first film making the top stars of the South cast her in consecutive films. Look at the pairing in her journey – 28 films with MGR, 17 films with Sivaji Ganesan and 11 films with NTR besides acting with every top and emerging hero of those times – Rajkumar, ANR, Shoban Babu, Krishna, Ravichandran, Kalyan Kumar, and others achieving a 80 per cent superhit rate. Almost all the heroes enhanced their auras because of the glamor oozed out by Jayalalithaa.
Naturally, she won three Filmfares which includes the very first Filmfare for Best Actress Award in 1972 when it was introduced. One of them was for a Telugu film “Sri Krishna Satya” in 1972. She also dubbed her own voice (something today’s heroines ought to learn) and sung a couple of songs including with legends like T.M.Soundarajan and S.P.Balasubramaniam. Unlike others, she resisted temptation to act in more films after plunging into politics. That’s what set her apart from other actor-turned-politicians. Despite delivering huge hits and being the highest paid actor for some years, she never compromised on her roles and performances and more importantly, never threw her weight around.
As her many interviews and lighter moments reveal, Jaya raced to the top of the films and then aced up on how to crack it in politics. Ambition and serene confidence drove her from films to politics and everywhere she dominated the scene – in films, for example, it was she who replaced B.Saroja Devi who acted in 27 films with MGR to overtake her in the pairing. She acted in roles which had western costumes as well as mythological characters like Satya Bhama. Even as she cruised to the top spot in Tamil films, her foundations for a political career were carefully laid through her multilingual fluency and English which remained her forte in films. Reading novels, current affairs and nonfiction and writers like Ruskin Bond came easy for her finessing her world views and sensibilities.
Shaping her career and achieving her goals became a heuristic progression for her – something that many women politicians in India and the world lack in depth. Not many have shown the resilience and the steely resolve that Jayalalithaa has shown, neither have they shown how to perfect the poise and the carefully cultivated public calm that she displayed always. It is tough to survive and thrive in both the worlds of films and politics especially when both are dominated by men but Jaya’s life and times show that with grit and guts, even a woman can achieve glory and public adulation if she determines. That is her greatest legacy to women in particular and Indians in general. Life kept changing plans for her from the time she was born, but she kept pushing ahead in her own ways until the terms became endearing for her until the last. Salute the Iron Lady who could have also played a national role had the stars aligned. Yes, there were issues of nepotism, conceit, corruption, delusions of greatness and superstitious beliefs (from Numerology and Vaastu to Astrology) but her personality overshadowed her fixations and made her one of the most epoch-making Diva-turned politicians of our time.
