“It’s been a tempestuous life and career,” former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who passed away on December 5, told Simi Grewal in what was one of her most candid interviews ever.
“I’ve been propelled by fate into two very high-profile careers,” she added. “But I’m really a behind-the-scenes person.”
“You see, for most of my life, I’d say for one third of my life, I was entirely dominated by my mother. I’d do everything that she wanted. I could never do anything I really wanted. Then, for the other part of my life, I was entirely dominated by Mr MGR [MG Ramachandran, her mentor and chief minister of Tamil Nadu between 1977 and 1987]. First, I had to enter films for my mother’s sake, then I had to enter politics for Mr MGR’s sake. Now I’m passing through the last phase of my life. Two-thirds of my life is over, one-third remains. Now I’m living for myself,” she told Grewal.
A few milestones from her remarkable life.
