J. Jayalalithaa

In Madras (now Chennai), Jayalalithaa was trained in Carnatic music, western classical piano[24] and various forms of classical dance, including Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam, Manipuri, Kathak.[25] She learnt Bharatnatyam and dance forms under K.J.Sarasa.[26] She had also learnt Kuchipudi under Padma Bhushan Guru Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam. She became an accomplished dancer and gave her debut dance performance at the Rasika Ranjani Sabha in Mylapore in May 1960.[27] The Chief Guest at the Arangetram was Shivaji Ganesan, who expressed wish that Jayalalithaa becomes a film star in future.[28]

While a child, Jayalalithaa acted in the Kannada-language film Sri Shaila Mahathme (1961), which had Rajkumar and Krishna Kumari in lead roles.[29] She had been taken to the studio by her mother as she was shooting in the same premises for a different film. While Jayalalithaa was watching the shooting, a problem arose as the child actress playing the Goddess Parvathy in a school drama scene in the film failed to show up and the producer Neerlahalli Thalikerappa and director Aroor Pattabhi asked Sandhya if Jayalalithaa could be asked to act in the dance sequence. Sandhya agreed and Jayalalithaa was swiftly dressed up as Parvathy and the scene was shot in Sri Shaila Mahatme.[30]

She played Krishna in a three-minute dance sequence held on stage in the Hindi film Manmauji (1962) and danced with Kumari Naaz who played Radha. Y. G. Parthasarathy ran the drama troupe United Amateur Artistes (UAA), which staged English and Tamil plays. Soon Jayalalithaa while a schoolgirl began acting in some plays of Parthasarathy along with her mother and aunt. She acted in small roles in plays such as Tea House of the August Moon and Undersecretary between 1960 and 1964.

Shankar Giri, the son of the former Indian President V. V. Giri, saw her small role in the English play Tea Houses of August Moon and was impressed. Shankar Giri approached her mother Sandhya and told he wanted to cast her daughter in an English film called The Epistle. Sandhya reluctantly agreed with the condition that shooting should be held only during weekends or school holidays.[27]

Sandhya had acted in the 1964 Tamil film Karnan, produced and directed by Kannada film-maker B. R. Panthulu. Jayalalithaa accompanied her mother to a party related to the film and was spotted by Panthulu, who then decided to cast her opposite Kalyankumar in the Kannada movie Chinnada Gombe. He promised to finish all shooting within two months in order not to interfere with her education. Since Jayalalithaa would be studying for her PUC in two months' time, Sandhya had declined the offer initially.[31] Sandhya agreed when that promise was made and Jayalalithaa started acting and she was paid ₹3,000 (equivalent to ₹130,000 or US$1,800 in 2019). Panthulu kept his promise and completed shooting in six weeks. Jayalalithaa had forgotten all about films after acting in her Kannada debut film and had got ready to attend classes at Stella Maris as she had the ambition to be a lawyer. But the Kannada debut film became a blockbuster in 1964 and she became a well-known face.

Meanwhile, Jayalalithaa continued acting in Parthasarathy's plays. She played the leading role in plays such as Malathi, The Whole Truth, and the dance drama Kaveri Thanda Kalaiselvi between 1960 and 1966. She made her debut as the lead actress in Kannada films while still in school, age 15, in Chinnada Gombe (1964).[31] She also appeared in a dance sequence of a song named "Malligeya Hoovinantha" in the movie Amarashilpi Jakannachari (1964).[3]

She made her debut in Tamil theatre in April 1964, when she played a sales girl in the drama named Undersecretary. Parthasarathy and Sandhya were the lead characters, while Jayalalitha and Cho Ramaswamy were paired together and A. R. Srinivasan was also involved. The play was based on the lives of middle aged couple and Jayalaithaa played character of sales girl in the drama. Her performance caused Parthasarathy to make her lead heroine in a drama named Malathy. Meanwhile, the films she had shot during her vacation in April–May 1964—Chinnada Gombe and Manushulu Mamathalu—became blockbusters. By end of 1965, she had become popular among film producers and directors.[31] She was approached by C. V. Sridhar for her Tamil film debut as well. Between 1964 and 1966 she did around 35 shows of drama named Malathy and later discontinued as she became very busy in films.[27] It was during the year 1964, financial debts had increased of Sandhaya and she suggested her daughter make use of the increasing film offers to come her way.[32]

Jayalalithaa's debut in Tamil cinema was the leading role in Vennira Aadai (1965), directed by C. V. Sridhar.[26] She made her debut in Telugu films as lead actress in Manushulu Mamathalu opposite Akkineni Nageswara Rao. Her last Telugu release was also opposite Akkineni Nageswara Rao in the film Nayakudu Vinayakudu, which was released in 1980.[33] She was the first heroine to appear in skirts in Tamil films.[34] She acted in one Hindi film called Izzat, with Dharmendra as her male costar in 1968.[35] She starred in 28 box-office hit films with M.G. Ramachandran between 1965 and 1973.[36] The first with MGR was B.R. Panthalu's Aayirathil Oruvan in 1965 and their last film together was Pattikaattu Ponnaiya in 1973.[37]

Jayalalithaa donated gold jewelleries she had to the then Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.[38]

She had 11 successful releases in Tamil in 1966. In the opening credits of Arasa Katalai, for the first time her name was affixed with the phrase Kavarchi Kanni.[39] In 1967 she bought her bungalow, Veda Nilayam, in Poes Gardens for ₹1.32 lakh (equivalent to ₹57 lakh or US$79,000 in 2019).[40]

Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar was on the lookout for a regular heroine for his production after he had fight with the actress Savithri after the release of Vetaikkaran, and he signed Jayalalithaa on in 1965. She became a regular heroine for production house Devar films from 1966.[41]

Jaishankar was romantically paired with Jayalalithaa in eight Tamil films including Muthuchippi, Yaar Nee?, Nee!, Vairam, Vandhale Magarasi, Bommalattam (1968), Raja Veetu Pillai and Avalukku Aayiram Kangal, whereas the films Thanga Gopuram and Gowri Kalyanam had him play elder brother to her.

Jayalalithaa acted in twelve films as heroine opposite N. T. Rama Rao, in Telugu—Gopaludu Bhoopaludu (1967), Chikkadu Dorakadu (1967), Tikka Sankaraiah (1968), Niluvu Dopidi (1968), Baghdad Gaja Donga (1968), Kathanayakudu (1969), Kadaladu Vadaladu (1969), Gandikota Rahasyam (1969), Ali Baba 40 Dongalu (1970), Sri Krishna Vijayamu (1970), Sri Krishna Satya (1972), and Devudu Chesina Manushulu (1973). Jayalalitha had eight films with Akkineni Nageswara Rao in Telugu—Manushulu Mamathalu (1965), Aastiparulu (1966), Brahmachari (1968), Aadarsa Kutumbam (1969), Adrushtavanthulu (1969), Bharya Biddalu (1972), Premalu Pellillu (1974) and Nayakudu Vinayakudu (1980).

She also made a guest appearance in Telugu film Navarthi (1966). Her films in Telugu also included two with Krishna and one each with Sobhan Babu, Jaggayya, Ramakrishna and Haranath.[42] She was given on-screen credit as Kalai Selvi in most of her Tamil films since 1967.[31]

Between 1965 and 1973, Jayalalithaa starred opposite M. G. Ramachandran in a number of successful films, including Aayirathil Oruvan, Kavalkaran, Adimai Penn, Engal Thangam, Kudiyirundha Koyil, Ragasiya Police 115 and Nam Naadu.[35][47] Cho Ramaswamy cast her in the lead role in his directorial venture Yarrukkum Vetkam Illai.[48]

She acted with Ravichandran in ten films—Gowri Kalyanam (1966), Kumari Penn (1966), Naan (1967), Magarasi (1967), Maadi Veettu Mappilai (1967), Panakkara Pillai (1968), Moondru Yezhuthu (1968), Andru Kanda Mugam (1968), Avalukku Aayiram Kangal and Baghdad Perazhagi (1974).[31] In 1972, she acted opposite Sivaji Ganesan in Pattikada Pattanama, which went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil in 1973.

In 1973, she acted in Sri Krishna Satya, which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in Telugu.[49] Her other films with Sivaji Ganesan include Galatta Kalyanam and Deiva Magan; the latter holds the distinction of being the first Tamil film to be submitted by India for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[50]

Jayalalithaa was paired opposite Sivaji Ganesan in 17 films. She acted in six films with R. Muthuraman as a romantic leading pair—Dhikku Theriyadha Kaattil, Thirumangalyam, Kanavan Manaivi, Avandhan Manidhan, Suryagandhi, Anbu Thangai[31] and Muthuraman played supporting roles in Kannan En Kadhalan, Major Chandrakanth, Naan, En Annan, Adi Parashakti, Thaer Thiruvizha, Dharmam Engey, Chitra Pournami and Oru Thaai Makkal. She made her debut in Malayalam with Jesus (1973).[51] Her 100th film was Thirumangalyam (1974), directed by A. Vincent.[52]

She was romantically paired opposite Sivakumar in Kandan Karunai and Sri Krishna Leela. Sivakumar played supporting roles in Shakti Leelai, Yarrukum Vetkam Ilali, Thirumangalyam, Annaivelakanni, Kavalkaran, Motoram Sunderapillai and Ganga Gowri.[53]

The heroes of her films never objected to the title of the film being conferred on the female lead played by Jayalalithaa. Adimai Penn, Kanni Thaai, and Kannan En Kadhalan had Ramachandran as the lead male hero but the story and the title was built around the character played by Jayalalithaa. Similarly, Engerindo Vandhaal, Sumathi En Sundari, Paadhukaappu and Anbai Thedi had Sivaji Ganeshan as the male lead but the title and the story was built around her character. She did many female-centric films where the story revolved on her character, such as Vennira Adai, Yaar Nee?, Kumari Penn, Nee, Gowri Kalyanam, Magaraasi, Muthu Chippi, Thanga Gopuram, Avalukku Ayiram Kangal, Annamitta Kai, Vandhaale Magaraasi, Suryagandhi, Thirumangalyam, Yarukkum Vetkam Illai, and Kanavan Manaivi.

She received the title "Nadippuku Ilakkium Vahuthuvar" and also won Tamil Nadu Cinema Fan Award for Best Actress for her 100th film Thirumangalyam in 1974.[54] Her last film in Tamil was Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal (1980).[35] Her last film as the heroine was Nayakudu Vinayakudu in Telugu,[55] which became the highest grosser of the year in Telugu.

Her successful Kannada films include Badukuva Daari (1966), Mavana Magalu (1965), Nanna Kartavya (1965), Chinnada Gombe (1964) and Mane Aliya (1964). 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 and she also has all 28 films in Telugu as silver jubilee hits.[32] She was the highest-paid Indian actress from 1965 to 1980. She made guest appearances in nine films and six of her films were dubbed into Hindi. She had 119 box office hits between 1961 and 1980, of the total 125 films she did as the main female lead. She made a brief appearance in 1992's Neenga Nalla Irukkanum.[56]

Jayalalithaa won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress for Thanga Gopuram in 1971, Raman Thediya Seethai in 1972, Suryagandhi in 1973, Thirumangalyam in 1974, and Yarukkum Vetkam Illai in 1975.[57] She acted in mythological films like Kandan Karunai, Aadhi Parashakti, Shri Krishna Satya, Shri Krishna Vijayam, Shri Rama Katha, Shri Krishna Leela, Shakti Leelai, Ganga Gowri, Annai Velankanni and Jesus. Her period dramas include Ayirathil Oruvan, Neerum Neruppum, Mani Magudam, Adimai Penn, Ali Baba 40 Dongalu, Arasa Katalai, and Baghdad Perazhagi.

She acquired the reputation of being a multi-faceted actor equally comfortable in fantasy and mythological genres as well as in modern social dramas[58] and hence in 1969, in Tamil Conference, she was given the tag of Kaveri Thandha Kalai Selvi.[59]

She and Saroja Devi have been cited as the first female superstars of Tamil cinema. She did double roles in eight films.[60]

She received Special Award from Filmfare for her performances in 'Chandhrodhayam', 'Adimai Penn' and 'Engirundho Vandhaal' in the years 1966, 1969 and 1970 as the Filmfare Award for Best Actress was introduced only in 1972.[61] Her performance in Pattikada Pattanama, Suryagandhi were critically acclaimed and won her consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1972 and 1973, respectively.

From 1968–73, at the peak of her career she took interviews and wrote columns in the magazines like Bommai. She wrote a column-Ennanga Selar in magazine Tughlaq in the 1970s. She also wrote a short story, "Oravin Kaidhigal", for the magazine Kalki, Manadhdai Thotaa Malargal for Thaai magazine in the early 1980s.[62] She wrote about her own life in a serialised memoir in the Tamil weekly magazine Kumudam.[63]

In 1980, she decided to voluntarily decline any new film offers. The journalist Brian Laul wrote an article specifying Jayalalithaa was trying for a comeback but was not being offered any roles. Jayalalithaa chose to respond to him by writing a letter, in which she mentioned that she was not struggling to make any comeback and that she turned down the offer from producer Balaji to star in Billa (1980) alongside Rajinikanth. She added she wanted to pursue other interests and was not interested in pursuing her film career any further.[64]

Her closest friends from film industry included Manorama,[65] Cho Ramaswamy,[66] Rajasree, Jamuna, Saroja Devi, Kumari Sachu, Anjali Devi, Sowcar Janaki, Sukumari,[67] Ravichandran, R.Muthuraman, Nagesh, M.N.Nambiar, Venniradai Nirmala, S.A.Asokan, Jaishankar, V.K.Ramaswamy, Major Sunnderajan, P.Susheela, Sheela, M.S.Vishwanathan, L.R.Eshwari, R.S.Manohar.[68]

She quoted on M. G. Ramachandran, "He was a very warm and caring kind of a person. And after Mother died, he replaced her in my life. He was everything to me. He was mother, father, brother, friend, philosopher, guide. Everything. He sort of took over my life." In many of her interviews she often said she entered films on being asked by her mother and entered politics on request by M. G. Ramachandran.[69]

Jayalalithaa denied claims that MGR, who had been chief minister for the state since 1977, was instrumental in introducing her to politics.[3] In 1982, she joined the AIADMK, which was founded by MGR.[70] Her maiden public speech, "Pennin Perumai" ("The Greatness of a Woman"), was delivered at the AIADMK's political conference in the same year[71] and was well received. Even the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the Rajya Sabha member Khushwant Singh came to witness her speech which was widely acclaimed for its clarity of diction and elegant prose.[72] Her seat number in Rajya Sabha was 185, which was coincidentally the same as that of what C. N. Annadurai had while he was a member in the Rajya Sabha.[73][74] In 1983, she became propaganda secretary for the party and campaigned extensively for the party candidate in the by-election for the Tiruchendur Assembly constituency.[70]

MGR wanted her to be a member of the Rajya Sabha because of her fluency in English.[75] Indira Gandhi lauded Jayalalithaa for the various speeches she made on issues including the one on internal security in Rajya Sabha.[76] Jayalalithaa was elected to that body in 1984 and retained her seat until 1989.[77] Her success in her role as propaganda secretary caused resentment among high-ranking members of the party. By engineering a rift between her and MGR, these members influenced MGR to stop her writing about her personal life in a Tamil magazine. Despite these machinations, she remained admired by the rank and file of the party.[3] She was given key responsibilities, including in the implementation of the landmark noon-meals scheme when M. G. Ramachandran was the chief minister and this taught her lessons in welfare politics. Later when MGR fell ill, she campaigned extensively for the party before the 1984 election.[78]

Amma Anbu Maaligai in Royapettah

In 1984, when MGR was incapacitated due to a stroke, Jayalalithaa was said to have attempted to take over the position of chief minister or the party on the pretext that his health would prevent him from the proper execution of his duties.[79] She successfully led the campaign in the 1984 general elections, in which the ADMK allied with the Congress.[77] Following his death in 1987, the AIADMK split into two factions: one supported his widow, Janaki Ramachandran This faction was called AIADMK(JA) and the other favoured Jayalalithaa called AIADMK(J). Jayalalithaa faction was supported by senior leaders like V. R. Nedunchezhiyan, Aranganayagam, KKSSRR Ramachandran, Thirunavukarasar. Janaki was selected as the Chief Minister on 7 January 1988 with the support of 96 members; due in part to irregularities by speaker P. H. Pandian, who dismissed six members to ease her victory, she won a motion of confidence in the house. However, Rajiv Gandhi used Article 356 of the Constitution of India to dismiss the Janaki-led government and impose president's rule on the state.[3][80][81]

At the age of 41, Jayalalithaa entered the Assembly successfully contesting the subsequent 1989 elections on the basis of being MGR's political heir.[82]

She was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 1989 as a representative of the Bodinayakkanur constituency. This election saw the Jayalalithaa-led faction of the AIADMK win 27 seats and Jayalalithaa became the first woman to be elected Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. In February 1989, the two factions of AIADMK merged and they unanimously accepted Jayalalithaa as the general secretary of the party and the "Two leaves" symbol of the party was restored.[27]

On 25 March 1989, as claimed by the party and a section of the members present in the assembly, amidst heavy violence inside the house among the ruling DMK party members and the opposition, Jayalalithaa was brutally attacked by the ruling DMK members in front of the assembly speaker on the behest of then Chief Minister Karunanidhi.[83] Jayalalitha left the Assembly with her torn saree drawing a parallel with the shameful disrobing of Draupadi in the epic Mahabharata.[84][85][86][87][88] At the peak of the situation, Jayalalithaa was about to leave the house, she vowed to not enter the house "until as a Chief Minister".[89][90] In spite of some sections of media terming it as a theatrics, it received a lot of media coverage and sympathy from the public.[91][92][93] During the 1989 general elections, the AIADMK allied with the Congress party and was handed a significant victory. The AIADMK, under her leadership, also won the by-elections in Marungapuri, Madurai East and Peranamallur assembly constituencies.[77]

Jayalalithaa presenting award in World Tamil Conference,1993

In 1991, following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi days before the elections, her alliance with the Indian National Congress enabled her to ride the wave of sympathy that gave the coalition victory.[94][95] The AIADMK alliance with the Congress won 225 out of the 234 seats contested and won all 39 constituencies in the centre.[77] Re-elected to the assembly, she became the state's youngest chief minister, and the first woman to serve a full term, serving from 24 June 1991 to 12 May 1996.[77][81] In 1992, her government introduced the "Cradle Baby Scheme". At that time the ratio of male to female in some parts of Tamil Nadu was skewed by the practice of female infanticide and the abortion of female foetuses. The government established centres in some areas, these being equipped to receive and place into adoption unwanted female babies. The scheme was extended in 2011.[96] Her party had 226 elected members to the assembly. Her government was the first to introduce police stations operated solely by women. She introduced 30% quota for women in all police jobs and established as many as 57 all-women police stations. There were other all-women establishments like libraries, stores, banks and co-operative elections.[97] She began to be referred as Thanga Gopuram, Thanga Chillai and Thanga Tharagai ('Golden Maiden') by her followers.[98]

She first invited Ford Motor Company to establish business in Tamil Nadu in 1995. This was followed by numerous companies setting up factories here especially from automobiles sector which included Hyundai Motor, BMW, Daimler, Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Wright, Yamaha. Due to this, Madras (now Chennai) began to be called as the Detroit of India under her first term.[99] Royal Enfield made significant expansion in Tamil Nadu and apart from Ashok Leyland, TAFE and TVS Motors became key players in Tamil Nadu.

The Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK lost power in the 1996 elections, when it won 4 of the 168 seats that they contested.[101] Jayalalithaa was herself defeated by the DMK candidate in Bargur constituency.[102] The outcome has been attributed to an anti-incumbency sentiment and several allegations of corruption and malfeasance against her and her ministers.[95][101] The wedding event of her foster son Sudhakaran, who married a granddaughter of the Tamil film actor Shivaji Ganesan, was held on 7 September 1995 at Madras and was viewed on large screens by over 150,000 people. The event holds two Guinness World Records: one is for the most guests at a wedding and the other is for being the largest wedding banquet.[3][103][104] Subsequently, in November 2011, Jayalalithaa told a special court than the entire ₹6 crore (equivalent to ₹29 crore or US$4.0 million in 2019) expenses associated with the wedding were paid by the family of the bride.[105]

Her fortunes revived in the 1998 general election, as the AIADMK became a key component of then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 1998–99 government; her withdrawal of support toppled it and triggered another general election just a year later.

There were several corruption cases filed against her by the ruling DMK government headed by Karunanidhi. Jayalalithaa was arrested on 7 December 1996 and was remanded to 30-day judicial custody in connection with the Colour TV scam, which charged her with receiving kickbacks to the tune of ₹10.13 crore (equivalent to ₹49 crore or US$6.8 million in 2019). The investigation alleged that the amount through the TV dealers were routed in the form of cheques to a relative of Sasikala, who had quoted Jayalalithaa's residence as hers. She earlier filed an anticipatory bail in the trial court, which was rejected on 7 December 1996.[106] She was acquitted in the case on 30 May 2000 by the trial court and the High Court upheld the order of the lower court.[107][108]

Though Sudhakaran was adopted by Jayalalithaa as her foster son in 1995, when she became aware that Sudhakaran began to interfere in her financial affairs and that he took money without intending to repay, she disowned him in 1996 within one year of adoption.[109]

When questioned on her views on Sasikala, Jayalalithaa quoted in 1996 "Sasikala never functioned as extra constitutional power centre. Calling her defacto chief minister is nonsense. She is not interested in politics and I have no intention to bring her into politics." It annoyed her when people said Sasikala was behind many of her political decisions and termed such news as rubbish and insult to her position as chief minister.[110]

Jayalalithaa was barred from standing as a candidate in the 2001 elections because she was found guilty of criminal offences, including allegedly obtaining property belonging to a state-operated agency called TANSI. Although she appealed to the Supreme Court of India, having been sentenced to five years' imprisonment, the matter was not resolved at the time of the elections.[111] Despite this, the AIADMK won a majority and she was installed as Chief Minister as a non-elected member of the state assembly on 14 May 2001.[81] She was also convicted in Pleasant Stay hotel case on 3 February 2000 by a trial court to one-year imprisonment. Jayalalithaa was acquitted in both the TANSI and Pleasant Stay Hotel cases on 4 December 2001 and the Supreme Court upheld the order of the High Court on 24 November 2003.[112][113]

The AIADMK returned to power in 2001, although Jayalalithaa was personally disbarred from contesting due to the corruption cases. Within a few months of her taking oath as chief minister, in September 2001, she was disqualified from holding office, and forced to cede the chair to loyalist O. Panneerselvam.

Upon her acquittal six months later, Jayalalithaa returned as chief minister to complete her term. Noted for its ruthlessness to political opponents, many of whom were arrested in midnight raids, her government grew unpopular.Her appointment was legally voided in September 2001 when the Supreme Court ruled that she could not hold it whilst convicted of criminal acts.[111] O. Panneerselvam, a minister in her party, was subsequently installed as the Chief Minister. However, his government was purported to have been puppeted and micro-managed by Jayalalithaa.[81][114]

Subsequently, in March 2003, Jayalalithaa assumed the position of Chief Minister once more, having been acquitted of some charges by the Madras High Court.[115] This cleared the way for her to contest a mid-term poll to the Andipatti constituency, after the sitting MLA for the seat, gave up his membership, which she won by a handsome margin.[116]

Jayalalithaa with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

India's first company of female police commandos was set up in Tamil Nadu in 2003. They underwent the same training as their male counterparts, covering the handling of weapons, detection and disposal of bombs, driving, horseriding, and adventure sports.[117] The government led by her in 2003 banned sale of all lotteries, including online, within the territory of the state, despite the risk of the state losing revenue. She gave orders to a special task force headed by K. Vijaykumar[118] to conduct a secret operation to capture and kill the bandit Veerappan by entering Karnataka.[119] In 2004 she declared eliminating Veerappan as biggest achievement of her government and quoted ""My only brief to them was capture Veerappan dead or alive. After that I never interfered. I left them to work out their own strategies and this paid off."[120] She began to be referred as 'People's CM' (Makallin Mudhalvar) and Iron Lady of India by end of this term.[121] In this term she launched Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) scheme in 2001 to rejuvenate water sources and this improved ground water levels in the parched southern state and this idea was replicated by various states and even by the Centre. She also started the Veeranam project to deliver water to the dry metropolis of Chennai.[122] Doctor Manmohan Singh frequently praised Jayalalithaa for her administrative skills, mid-day meal schemes and efforts for gender empowerment.[123]

Her administrative abilities were notable in her handling of events following the tsunami that hit Tamil Nadu on 26 December 2004. Jayalalithaa announced a Rs 153.37 crore relief package, divided into a general package and a separate one for fishermen. She announced that affected families would get Rs 1 lakh as compensation for every member lost, along with one dhoti, one sari, two bedsheets, 60 kg of rice, three litres of kerosene, and Rs 1,000 in cash for groceries and that furthermore, Rs 1,000 was to be given for purchase of utensils, Rs 2,000 so they could put up accommodation. Per family, and there were about one lakh families in all, the package would cost about Rs 5,000. The fishermen also received an extra Rs 65 crore meant to cover gill nets and boats. It was only a matter of hours before Nagapattinam had its power supply back. With the state working on disaster management for over seven years, response time had been reduced significantly; mobile cranes and ambulances were on patrol. The government entrusted district administration with rehabilitation of affected families, and when they were found to be incompetent, she reshuffled or sacked officers immediately. Jayalalithaa even extended help to the Sri Lankan government by instating officers to guide the island nation in the process of rehabilitation. Her administrative style was uncompromising, whether it was banning the sale of gutkha, or mandatory installation of rainwater harvesting systems, but, she got things done on time without any ifs or buts, as was seen with the tsunami relief, ensuring people remembered not the ruthlessness of her tenure, but the help it gave them.[124][125]

But, still her party fared poorly in May 2006 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, 2006 with Her party winning just 61 seats out of total 234 in the state elections in 2006. She won in Andipatti. Though her main opposition, DMK did not win a single party majority (96/234), DMK coalition had 162/234 seats and formed the cabinet until 2011 which she referred to as Minority DMK government.

After another period (2006–11) in the opposition, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister for the fourth time after the AIADMK swept the 2011 assembly election. Her government received attention for its extensive social-welfare agenda, which included several subsidised "Amma"-branded goods such as (Amma canteens, Amma bottled water, Amma salt and Amma cement).

In April 2011, the AIADMK was part of a 13-party alliance that won the 14th state assembly elections. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the fourth time on 16 May 2011, having been elected unanimously as the leader of the AIADMK party subsequent to those elections.[126]

The then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Jayalalithaa in July 2011

On 19 December 2011, Jayalalithaa expelled her long-time close aide V. K. Sasikala and 13 others from the AIADMK after she became aware that Sasikala and her family were working against her.[127] Most of the party members welcomed her decision,[128] and on 2 February 2012, Tehelka magazine claimed that Natarajan and some of her relatives were conspiring to kill her by poisoning her food over a period of time.[129] The matter was resolved by 31 March when Sasikala Natarajan was reinstated as a party member after issuing a written apology.[130] Sasikala in her written apology mentioned that she had no ambitions either in the party or in the government and wanted to serve Jayalalithaa and added that she became aware of misdeeds done by her family members when Jayalalithaa was in power. Only after Sasikala promised to be not in touch with her family members, Jayalalithaa allowed Sasikala back to her house.[131]

In this term, she announced the Pension Scheme for Destitute Transgender by which those above ages of 40 could get a monthly pension of Rs.1,000. Her government ensured members of the transgender community could enrol for education and job.[132] Beginning from 2011, every year her government gave free laptops to students who clear tenth and twelfth standard to impart digital education to rural areas.[133] Her government in 2011 decided to give four goats and a cow to each family below poverty line — mixer and grinders and fans, 3 sets of free uniforms, school, bags, notebooks, geometry boxes for all children in government schools, and cycles and laptops for Class 11 and 12 students.[134] In 2011 she launched the marriage assistance scheme wherein the female students received 4 gram gold free for use as Thirumangalyam for their marriage and cash assistance up to Rs.50,000 for undergraduate or diploma holding females.[135] There were rampant power cut issues between 2006 and 2011 while AIDMK was in opposition wherein for 10 to 15 hours there was no supply of electricity. However, after she regained power, between 2011 and 2015, her state government corrected all the discrepancies of previous DMK regime such that the Central Electricity Authority in 2016 said the state is expected to have 11,649 million units of surplus power.[136] Tamil Nadu became among the power surplus states while she was chief minister in this term. In this term her government ensured the wrongfully usurped property by land grabbing during 2006 to 2011 in the previous DMK regime, had been retrieved and handed over to rightful owners between 2011 and 2015.[137]

She announced in 2012, the Vision 2023 document which embodied a strategic plan for infrastructure development which included raising the per capita income of residents to $10,000 per annum, matching Human Development Index to that of developed countries by 2023, providing high-quality infrastructure all over the State, making Tamil Nadu the knowledge capital and innovation hub of India. This project had three components — Overall Vision Document, Compilation of Project Profile and Road Map. The work on this continued under her supervision until her death.[138]

Jayalalithaa's car Toyota Land Cruiser Prado

Three years into her tenure, she was convicted in a disproportionate-assets case, rendering her disqualified to hold office.

On 27 September 2014, Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years in jail and fined ₹100 crore (equivalent to ₹129 crore or US$18 million in 2019) by the Special Court in Bengaluru. She was convicted in an 18-year-old disproportionate assets case that was launched by Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy (now a member of Bharatiya Janata Party) on 20 August 1996 on the basis of an Income Tax Department report on her. Jayalalithaa's close aide Sasikala, her niece Ilavarasi, her nephew and the chief minister's disowned foster son Sudhakaran were also convicted. They were sentenced to four years in jail and fined ₹10 crore (equivalent to ₹13 crore or US$1.8 million in 2019) each. Special Judge John Michael D'Cunha convicted her to owning assets to the tune of ₹66.65 crore (equivalent to ₹293 crore or US$41 million in 2019) (which includes 2,000 acres (810 ha) of land, 30 kilograms (66 lb) of gold and 12,000 saris) disproportionate to her known sources of income during 1991–96 when she was chief minister for the first time. The verdict was delivered by a makeshift court in the Parappana Agrahara prison complex in the presence of Jayalalithaa and the other accused.

She was automatically disqualified from the post of chief minister and the legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu, and thus became the first Indian chief minister to be disqualified.[139] O. Panneerselvam, a minister in her party, succeeded her as the Chief Minister on 29 September 2014.[140] On 17 October 2014, the Supreme Court granted her two months' bail and suspended her sentence.[141]

On 11 May 2015, a special Bench of the Karnataka High Court set aside her conviction on appeal. That court acquitted her and the alleged associates—Sasikala Natarajan, her niece Ilavarasi, her nephew and Jayalalithaa's disowned foster son Sudhakaran.[142]

On 14 February 2017 (subsequent to her death) the Supreme Court of India over-ruled the Karnataka High Court. Sasikala and the other accused were convicted and sentenced to four years of imprisonment, as well as being fined 10 crores each. The case against Jayalalithaa was abated because she had died and hence can't defend herself.[143]

Jayalalithaa with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The acquittal allowed her once again to hold office and on 23 May 2015, Jayalalithaa was sworn in[144] as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the fifth time. She was subsequently re-elected by the electorate of the Radhakrishnan Nagar of North Chennai in the by-election held on 27 June 2015. In a landslide victory, she polled more than 88 per cent votes of the 74.4 per cent turnout, winning by a margin of over 150,000 votes.[145]

In 2015, she introduced Amma Master Health checkup plan where in people could get various treatments done at a low fee in government hospitals and rolled out Amma Arogya plan wherein at primary health care centre in Tamil Nadu, certain tests can be done by public twice a week. This was done to help the sections of society who cannot afford the fares asked for by private hospital.[146] Later in February 2016 she started the free bus ride scheme for senior citizens above age of 60 wherein person could travel free of cost for 10 times a month.[147] Her government initiated Global Investors Summit in 2015 which saw over Rs 2.43 lakh crore worth of investments being committed to the state. Jayalalithaa's term, all of them together, saw some big-ticket investments in the state and over $20 billion FDI.[148] The department of industrial policy and promotion data disclosed that Tamil Nadu saw foreign direct investment inflows of $7.3 billion from April 2000 to March 2011; however, this went up to $13.94 billion from April 2011 to December 2015, under her government, which at as per conversion rate as of 2016 equals Rs 83,766 crore. Between April 2015 and December 2015, the State attracted $4.3 billion in FDI.[149]

Jayalalithaa with Vice President Venkaiah Naidu in foundation stone laying ceremony

In the 2016 assembly election, she became the first Tamil Nadu chief minister since MGR in 1984 to be voted back into office. That September, she fell severely ill and, following 75 days of hospitalisation, died on 5 December 2016 due to cardiac arrest.

Jayalalithaa was again elected as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in the May 2016 elections. She retained the Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency with a margin of 39,545 votes over her DMK rival.[150] She became the first leader in Tamil Nadu to serve consecutive terms as Chief Minister since the death of MGR in 1987.[151] In her victory speech, she commented, "Even when 10 parties allied themselves against me, I did not have a coalition and I placed my faith in God and built an alliance with the people. It is clear that the people have faith in me and I have total faith in the people."[152]

Her government within 100 days of resuming power in May 2016, wrote off the outstanding crop loans given by cooperative banks to over 16.94 lakh farmers, gave free power to households to extent of first 100 units and gave free power to handloom weavers to extent of 200 units, gave 750 units of power to power loom weavers, implemented closure of 500 liquor shops and reduction of working hours of liquor outlets emergence of power surplus states. The establishment of first 1,000 MW nuclear power plant at Kudankulam is also regarded as one of her achievements.[153] She increased the freedom fighters monthly pension to Rs 12,000, family pension and increased special pension to Rs 6,000.[154] On 21 September 2016 she inaugurated two Chennai metro rail lines by way of video conferencing.[155] This was her last public appearance before being admitted to hospital on 22 September 2016.[156]

In the colour TV corruption case involving the purchase of TV sets to villagers, Jayalalithaa was convicted. The TV sets were provided in the framework of a government education and entertainment plan for the village population. Officials said the TVs were purchased at inflated prices and claimed that some of the money paid for TV stations was returned as kickbacks to government officials.[172]

Detained in 1996, the media reported that 21.28 kg of gold jewels worth Rs 3.5 crore, 10,500 saris, 91 designer watches, 750 pairs of shoes, 1,250 kg of silver objects worth 3.12 crores, diamonds worth 2 crores, a silver sword and 19 vehicles were found among the priceless treasures that were found at her house.[173]

The TANSI land deal case refers to the purchase of land by Jaya Publications, which included Jayalalithaa and her friend Sasikala, from the State Small Industry Company, Tansi, Guindy. Justice P Anbhazhagan delivered the judgment, and said that the evidence stated in the prosecution sheet, and that the sale deed of the prime land in Guindy had been carried out on 29 May 1992, in the unequivocal aim of cheating against the government. The Supreme Court disqualified her in September 2001, resulting in her stepping down and which made O. Panneerselvam as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The Madras High Court acquitted her and other 5 accused in the case of all the charges on 4 December 2001.[174][175]

A case of murder attempt were registered against Jayalalithaa, her close associate Sasikala, and Sasikala's nephew V Mahadivan has been recorded by the Chennai police on following a complaint by former Jayalalithaa's auditor, Rajasekaran, who alleged that he was summoned to the Poe's Garden bungalow and violently assaulted by Sasikala and Mahadevan with a stick and high-heeled shoes. Rajasekaran also stated that he had been forced by Jayalalithaa and Sasikala to sign two letters and a promissory note in respect of ₹50 lakhs. Jayalalithaa, however, denied the charges in a statement.[176][177]

Pleasant Stay hotel case is the construction of the seven-story hotel "Pleasant stay" in Kodaikanal, which was in breach of the rules for the construction of the seven-story building in a blue ville in the tourist resort town in Kodaikanal. Jayalalithaa, Selvaganapathy and Pandey granted a permission to create a seven-story structure at the hotel. The case was related to Jayalalithaa's supposed clearance by violating government rules to the development of a hotel in ecologically significant Kodaikanal. Jayalalithaa was sentenced in February 2000 to one year's strict imprisonment, with the penalty fined Rs.1000 for conspiracy and criminal misconduct as a public employee. After the court's decision, AIADMK cadres started to riot and arson which burned alive three female students in the Dharmapuri bus burning and many were killed and injured.[178] The Madras high court later acquitted her on 4 December 2001.[179]

In Mani Ratnam's political drama Iruvar (1997), the character of Kalpana portrayed by Aishwarya Rai, was inspired by Jayalalithaa and her professional and personal relationship with M. G. Ramachandran.[180][181][182] Faisal Saif completed work on major portions of a film titled Amma between 2014 and 2016, but was forced to shelve it following threats from members of Jayalalithaa's political party. The makers denied that the film was a biopic, but stated that actress Ragini Dwivedi portrayed a role resembling the politician.[183][184]

Since Jayalalithaa's death, several filmmakers have announced biopics on the politician, with six currently in production. In January 2017, Telugu filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao registered the title Amma and began preparing for a biopic on the politician. The film was being planned with Anushka Shetty in the lead role, but Rao's death in May 2017 effectively ended the project, despite indications that Mohan Babu may revive it.[185][186] Producer Adithya Bharadwaj announced that his team were over a year into pre-production work for a proposed biopic of Jayalalithaa, during December 2017. Titled Thaai: Puratchi Thalaivi, he revealed that it would predominantly be a fictionalised retelling of her story with some real life footage also included. Bharadwaj suggested that he had briefly touched upon the possibility of a biopic with Jayalalithaa when she was alive, but the script had to be reworked following her death. Despite his suggestions that the film would begin production in January 2018, the project did not take off.[187][188] Soon after news emerged about Vijay's and Priyadarshini's biopics in August 2018, Adithya reconfirmed that Bharathiraja had been signed to be the director of the film. He added that the team were considering either Aishwarya Rai or Anushka Shetty for the role of Jayalalithaa, and either Kamal Haasan or Mohanlal for the role of M. G. Ramachandran.[189]

In August 2018, producer Vishnu Vardhan Induri of Vibri Media announced that he was working on a biopic of Jayalalithaa, and that A. L. Vijay would direct the project.[190] The team announced that pre-production work and research was ongoing and that the film would focus on the personal life of the politician, showing her vulnerable side. Actresses including Nayanthara and Vidya Balan were initially approached by Vijay to star in the lead role, while Sai Pallavi was considered for the supporting role of V. K. Sasikala. Titled Thalaivi (2020), the film began its shoot after a long pre-production phase in November 2019 with Kangana Ranaut signed to play the lead role.[191][192][193] Within a day of Induri's announcement of making a film, director Priyadarshini announced that she had also been working for four months on the pre-production of a biopic, which would be launched in September 2018. Priyadarshini suggested that she had four scripts ready, with each focusing on different aspects of Jayalalithaa's life, and that the narration would be balanced by showing both her positive and negative sides.[194][193] Titled The Iron Lady, Nithya Menen was signed on to play the lead role, while Aishwarya Rajesh and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar were in talks for a supporting role for the character of Sasikala.[195][196][197]

Another biopic to be shot as a web-series by Gautham Menon became the fourth such announcement of a related project in August 2018.[198] Production on the series progressed quietly throughout late 2018, with Ramya Krishnan selected to play Jayalalithaa, and Indrajith and Vamsi Krishna portraying M. G. Ramchandran and Sobhan Babu respectively.[199][200] In October 2018, Sasikala's nephew Jeyanandh Dhivakaran announced a further biopic on Jayalalithaa, which would focus more on her relationship with Sasikala and M. Natarajan. Director Linguswamy was signed on to the project, and began pre-production work by meeting close aides and politicians of Jayalalithaa.[201] In April 2019, director Jegadeswara Reddy announced that he was set to make a film titled Sasilalithaa, which would showcase the relationship between Jayalalithaa and Sasikala. A first look poster was launched, with Reddy announcing that he would enter talks with Kajol and Amala Paul to play the lead roles.[202]