From Kollywood to Fort St George: A timeline of Jayalalithaa's life in film and politics
By TNN | Updated:
J Jayalalithaa's life: A timeline
Highlights
This timeline covers J Jayalalithaa's film career, her entry into politics, and her rise to iconic status in Tamil Nadu's history.
Revered and respected by millions, Jayalalithaa passed away on Monday night at age 68 after suffering a cardiac arrest
NEW DELHI: Here is a detailed timeline of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's life in film and politics, which follows her evolution from silver screen stardom to political icon status.
February 24, 1948 Jayalalithaa is born in Melukote, in what was then Mysore State, presently in the state of Karnataka, to Jayaram and Vedavalli. At birth, she was named after her paternal grandmother, Komalavalli, in line with her community’s customs. She will be given the name Jayalalithaa at the age one, named for the houses of her grandparents where she lived – Jaya Vilas and Lalitha Vilas.
1950 Jayaram dies. Vedavalli goes to live with her parents in Bangalore, taking Jayalithaa and her brother, Jayakumar, with her.
1952 Jayalalithaa and her brother remain with her aunt in Bangalore as her mother, Vedavalli, moves to Madras to find a job. Jayalalithaa goes to the elite Bishop Cottons Girls School. Vedavalli starts acting in plays, and subsequently films, under the stage name ‘Sandhya’, which she is still known by.
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1958 Jayalalithaa moves to Madras to live with her mother, after her aunt gets married. She is enrolled in the elite Sacred Heart Presentation Convent, popularly known as Church Park, where she excels in academics. She is also trained in Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam and Kathak.
1964 She makes her film debut in a lead role in ‘Chinnada Gombe’ a Kannada film. To support her debt-ridden family, Jayalalithaa gives us on her dreams of becoming a lawyer and plunges into the film industry.
1965 Jayalalithaa’s Tamil film debut comes in the landmark blockbuster hit, ‘Venniraadai’. In the same year, she stars in a film, ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’, with Tamil cinema’s biggest star MG Ramachandran (MGR) for the first time, to begin what remains among the most successful screen pairings in Tamil cinema, as well as one of the most critical relationships in her life.
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Jayalalithaa with MG Ramachandran
1965 – 1980
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This was the peak of Jayalalithaa’s film career. She was among the highest-paid actresses in the country at the time, and endorsed top brands. In this period, she acted in over 140 films, of which about 120 were blockbuster hits.
1970 Jayalalithaa has a falling out with MGR, after he chooses to work with another leading lady.
1971 Jayalalithaa’s mother Sandhya dies.
1973 She stars in a movie with MGR for the last time, in ‘Pattikaattu Ponnaiya’, a year after he split from the DMK to launch the AIADMK.
1977 Jayalalithaa steps back from films.
1980 Jayalalithaa stars in a Tamil movie, ‘Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal’, for the last time. Her last film in a leading role however was the Telugu film ‘Nayakudu Vinayakudu’.
1981 Jayalalithaa revives relationship with MGR.
1982 Jayalalithaa joins MGR’s AIADMK and soon after delivers her maiden political speech at the party conference.
1983 She is appointed the AIADMK’s propaganda secretary.
1984 She is elected to the Rajya Sabha, as MGR wants her there for her fluency in English and knowledge of several languages. She remains a member of the Rajya Sabha till 1989. She becomes a key campaigner for the AIADMK as the party wins a massive election victory despite MGR remaining hospitalized through the campaigning. Her rising prominence irks senior hands in the party. Her attempt to be named interim CM also does not go well with MGR.
1986 MGR sacks Jayalalithaa from all party posts after she forms a parallel political outfit. However, she continues as Rajya Sabha member of the AIAMDK.
1987 MGR dies, leaving no clear political heir. AIADMK descends into chaos over his legacy. Jayalalithaa competes with his widow Janaki for control of the party. The party splits into two major factions, one behind each woman.
After MG Ramachandran's death
1989 The Assembly election saw the Jayalalithaa faction win 27 seats to the Janaki faction’s two. Janaki steps aside to clear the way for Jayalalithaa’s accession to MGR’s legacy. Jayalalithaa becomes Tamil Nadu’s first woman Leader of Opposition. During the budget session, she s assaulted in the Assembly Hall and a senior DMK leader attempts to disrobe her. She vows she will not return except as Chief Minister.
1991 Allied with the Congress, and rocketed by the sympathy wave following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Jayalalithaa storms to power as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time.
1991 – 1996 Her unpopularity rises because of her perceived high-handedness, allegations of corruption among party cadre and the opulent display of wealth in the wedding of her foster son Sudhakaran, a nephew of her close aide, Sasikala Natarajan.
1996 AIADMK is routed in the elections. Following DMK government files a slew of corruption cases against her. She is arrested and remanded in prison in a corruption a case, which she would be acquitted of in 2000. Subramanian Swamy, then the chief of Janata Party files disproportionate assets case against her in August.
1998 AIADMK wins 18 of Tamil Nadu’s 39 seats as part of the NDA, and becomes part of Vajpayee government.
April 1999 Jayalalithaa pulls out of the NDA government, amid growing disagreements on several issues.
October 1999 AIADMK, now allied with the Congress, loses seats. NDA, now including DMK, wins to form government.
2000 Jayalalithaa convicted in Pleasant Stay Hotel case and the TANSI Land Acquisition case. Both convictions are appealed in higher courts and the matter remains pending. Though the conviction is stayed, the court bars her from contesting the Assembly elections the next year.
May 2001 AIADMK alliance sweeps Assembly elections, winning 196 of 234 seats. Jayalalithaa sworn in as Chief Minister amid controversy over the pending results on her convictions in the TANSI and Pleasant Stay Hotel cases.
September 2001 Supreme Court strikes down Jayalalithaa’s appointment as Chief Minister. Her loyalist O Panneerselvam is appointed Chief Minister, a post he occupies for about six months amid accusations of being a puppet. About this time, she adds an ‘a’ at the end of her name for numerological reasons.
December 2001 Court overturns her convictions both the TANSI and Pleasant Stay Hotel cases.
March 2002 Jayalalithaa resumes charge as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.
August 2003 Jayalalithaa takes a strong stand against over a lakh striking government employees. She uses the Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act (TESMA) to quash the strike, threatening suspensions and dismissals for those government servants who don’t report to work.
November 2003 Supreme Court shifts Disproportionate Assets Case against Jayalalithaa to Karnataka, to ensure fair trial.
May 2004 AIADMK wiped out in Lok Sabha elections; the loss is attributed to anger of government servants and other sections of society.
May 2006 AIADMK wins 61 seats and loses Assembly election to DMK-led alliance comprising most of Tamil Nadu’s political parties by slender vote margin. DMK forms government.
May 2009 Jayalalithaa, now part of the Third Front, is unable to stop the DMK-Congress combine from winning a majority of the seats for the UPA.
May 2011 AIADMK-led alliance sweeps the Assembly election, winning 203 of the 234 seats. AIADMK alone wins 150 seats to form the government. Her government starts implementing several populist and popular schemes. Jayalalithaa greets her supporters from the balcony of her residence on May 13, 2011, the day on which her party won that year's Assembly polls.
May 2014 AIADMK wins 37 of Tamil Nadu’s 39 seats, becomes third largest party in Lok Sabha, just behind Congress’s 44.
September 27, 2014 Bengaluru-based trial court sentences Jayalalithaa to four years in jail and Rs 100 crore in fines. The conviction automatically in the Disproportionate Assets Case disqualified her as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu under a recently passed law. She is jailed at the Parappana Agrahara prison complex. Again, O Panneerselvam took her place.
October 17, 2014 After about a month in jail, she is granted bail by the Supreme Court.
May 11, 2015 Jayalalithaa is acquitted of all charges in the Disproportionate Assets Case by the Karnataka High Court hearing the appeal against the trial court verdict.
A supporter of Jayalalithaa celebrates after she's acquitted in the disproportionate assets case.
May 23, 2015 She takes oath to return as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.
July 2015 Karnataka government goes to Supreme Court to appeal the acquittal by the Karnataka High Court.
May 2016 Fighting the Assembly election by herself, Jayalalithaa creates history by becoming the first Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in 32 years to be voted back to power. AIADMK wins 134 of the 234 seats to retain power.
September - October 2016 Jayalalithaa admitted to Chennai's Apollo hospital on September 22 with complaints of "fever and dehydration". She's later put on respiratory support and is treated for lung congestion. Doctors from the UK and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi join the team of specialists from Apollo to treat her.
November 3, 2016 Apollo Hospitals says Jayalalithaa has completely recovered.
November 19, 2016 Jayalalithaa is shifted out of the ICU.
December 4, 2016 The AIADMK says Jayalalithaa will return home soon. However, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister suffers a cardiac arrest on the same evening.
December 5, 2016 Jayalalithaa passes away, aged 68.
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Jayalalitha was born as Komalavalli in a Tamil Iyengar family on 24th February 1948, in Mysore.
From a hesitant teen starlet to becoming the protege of AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran and a five-time Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa Jayaraam has traversed a long path of trials and triumphs in her four-decade-long political career.
Jayalalitha was born as Komalavalli in a Tamil Iyengar family on 24th February 1948, in Mysore.
From a hesitant teen starlet to becoming the protege of AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran and a five-tim..
Read More
While as a student she was deeply interested in studies, she went on to become one of the most sought-after Tamil actresses.
She began schooling at the Bishop Cotton Girls High School in Bangalore. After moving to Chennai, Jayalalithaa went to the Sacred Heart Matriculation School of Presentation Convent and excelled in academics.
Jayalalithaa started learning classical dance from age four and was trained in dance forms like Bharatnatyam, Mohini Attam, Kathak and Manipuri and performed all over India.
While as a student she was deeply interested in studies, she went on to become one of the most sought-after Tamil actresses.
She began schooling at the Bishop Cotton Girls High School in Bangalore. ..
Read More
The life of the 68-year-old, who started her film career at the age of 15, has all the makings of an intense celluloid depiction.
Jayalalithaa did a total of 28 films pairing with MGR, the then Superstar of Tamil cinema and one of the most respected Indian politicians, with the bonding later stretching to politics too.
Proficient in many languages – she speaks English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi fluently - Jayalalithaa also sang several songs in her own films
The life of the 68-year-old, who started her film career at the age of 15, has all the makings of an intense celluloid depiction.
Jayalalithaa did a total of 28 films pairing with MGR, the then Supe..
Read More
Having mentored Jayalalithaa for a while as he floated his AIADMK breaking away from the M Karunanidhi-led DMK, MGR made his protege the party's Propaganda Secretary in 1983, a year after she joined it and later nominated her to Rajya Sabha, apparently impressed with her English communication skills.
The two later reportedly had some differences but Jayalalithaa spearheaded the party's election campaign in 1984 when MGR fell ill and was under treatment in the US.
Having mentored Jayalalithaa for a while as he floated his AIADMK breaking away from the M Karunanidhi-led DMK, MGR made his protege the party's Propaganda Secretary in 1983, a year after she joined ..
Read More
Jayalalithaa represented the AIADMK in the Rajya Sabha between 1984 and 1989. She was elected there after MGR wanted her in New Delhi for her fluency in English and knowledge of several languages.
Jayalalithaa represented the AIADMK in the Rajya Sabha between 1984 and 1989. She was elected there after MGR wanted her in New Delhi for her fluency in English and knowledge of several languages.
Her moment of reckoning came in December 1987 when MGR passed away. During the funeral procession of the AIADMK founder, Jayalalithaa was allegedly humiliated by supporters of MGR's wife Janaki, which led to a vertical split in the party.
However, battling the odds, in 1989, she won the elections to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly - becoming the first woman to be elected Leader of the Opposition.
Her moment of reckoning came in December 1987 when MGR passed away. During the funeral procession of the AIADMK founder, Jayalalithaa was allegedly humiliated by supporters of MGR's wife Janaki, whic..
Read More
A special court convicted her in Pleasant Stay Hotel case related to permission granted for construction allegedly flouting rules.
There were statewide protests and violence following the verdict. On 2 February 2000, seventy students from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, were returning from a study tour in two buses. They were stopped by mob, who forced the students to alight. One of the men threw a petrol bomb, setting fire to a bus before all of the students got out. Three girls were killed in the incident.
A special court convicted her in Pleasant Stay Hotel case related to permission granted for construction allegedly flouting rules.
There were statewide protests and violence following the verdict. O..
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