End of a fascinating journey: Quick facts about Jayalalithaa that you never knew

Childhood crush

Jayalalithaa, during her early age, had a strong crush on Cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. In one of her interviews, she had laughingly shared how she would go to watch a match with binoculars, to “just to look at Pataudi and Pataudi alone.” She also had a crush on cricketer Nari Contractor.

Her only Bollywood stint

Prior to joining politics, Jayalalithaa was a renowned name in the Southern film industry. However, what many of us do not know is, she has acted only one Hindi film. Titled 'Izzat', the film featured her opposite actor Dharmendra.

A writer inside

Jayalalithaa was a passionate writer. She has written one book and also used to write for a Tamil weekly publication.

She missed her own debut film!

Jayalalithaa debuted at an age as young as 15. Quite ironically, the Kannada film titled 'Chinnada Gombe' was an 'Adults only' film. As a result, she was unable to watch her own film in the theatre because she was not an adult! However, the film went on to become a blockbuster.

Amma’s mentor

Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, was an actor, director and producer. He not only happened to be a co-star of Jayalalithaa, but also introduced her to politics. He himself served three terms as a Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Jayalalithaa always fondly remembered him as her mentor.

Unfinished love

It is said that during her acting career, she fell head over heels in love with actor Shoban Babu, who was already married. She was also caught watching him through binoculars once. However, the love saga found no completeness. Jayalalithaa never got married either.

Broke through a new trend in Tamil cinema

Jayalalithaa was the first Tamil actress to wear sleeveless and drench herself under an waterfall. Given the time and social trends, it was surely something courageous.

The magical mother

Most people do not know that Jayalalithaa's name features in the Guinness Book Of World Records. She hosted the “largest wedding banquet/reception" on 1995 for her foster son Sudhagaran. The ceremony was arranged on a ground acquiring a 50-acre ground in Chennai and saw attendance of over 1,50,000 guests.

Measures for women empowerment

Jayalalithaa and her Government took active measures of securing the interest of women, in various ways. In 1992, she introduced 'Cradle Baby Scheme', a programme to eradicate the practice of killing female foetuses. That time, the number of females in male-female ratio was dangerously low. Later, she increased the number of female police officers in the state to a significant number.

Bathed in public as CM

During the 1992 Mahamaham Festival, which is known as the Kumbh Mela of the South, Jayalalithaa along with a friend had a ritual bath in one of the ghats. This resulted in a sudden of rush people to who ran to visit the Chief Minister. Massive stampede happened and 50 people died.