The Amma Phenomenon: How Jayalalitha Transformed From A Kollywood Queen To The Most Popular Politician In South India

Jayalalithaa Jayaram, an Indian actress-turned-politician, is the current chief minister of Tamil Nadu. She is also the General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party. She was sworn-in as the chief minister on 23 May 2016. She enjoys the title of being the second female Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. She also holds the record for being six-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu.. Her followers fondly call her “Amma”, meaning mother, and “Puratchi Thalaivi”, meaning revolutionary leader. Jayalalithaa, as she is commonly referred to, was a famous South Indian film star before she joined politics.
She had appeared as a lead actress in various films in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages. She was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1984 and served in this post till 1989. Tamil Nadu. She also shares the record of holding the chief ministerial position five times with DMK president M. Karunanidhi. Her followers fondly call her “Amma”, meaning mother, and “Puratchi Thalaivi”, meaning revolutionary leader. Jayalalitha, as she is commonly referred to, was a famous South Indian film star before she joined politics. She had appeared as a lead actress in various films in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages. Jayalalitha was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1984 and served in this post till 1989.
Personal background of Jayalalithaa
Jayalalitha was born in Mysore (now in the state of Karnataka) at a place called Melukote on 24 February 1948. She hails from a Tamil Iyengar family. Her father Jayaram, a lawyer by profession, passed away when she was just two years old. Consequently, Jayalalitha and her brother Jayakumar had to shift to Bangalore along with their mother.
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Her mother, Vedavathi, started working in Tamil cinema with the screen name of Sandhya. ‘Jaya’, meaning ‘victorious’, is a prefix used in the names of Jayalalitha, her brother Jayakumar and many other members of their family. This portrays the family’s association with the Wodeyar Dynasty of Mysore, which dates back to 1880-1920 when Jayalalitha’s grandfather, a surgeon by profession, used to serve the Mysore Kingdom.

Jayalalitha completed her schooling from Bishop Cotton Girls’ High School, Chennai, and Sacred Heart Matriculation School, also popularly known as Presentation Church Park Convent, in Chennai. She was a very good student and received scholarship for higher studies from the Government of India after completing her matriculation in 1964. However, she took up films shortly after that. Her career saw her working in films of different languages, including English, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.
She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and has proficiency in other dance forms like Kathak, Mohiniyattam and Manipuri as well. She has also lent her voice as a singer in some of her films. She has proficiency in English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam. Her brother, Jayakumar, passed away in the early 1990s. Jayalalitha remains unmarried.