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In Pictures: Life and times of colourful and controversial Jayalalithaa

One of the most popular and powerful politicians, J Jayalalithaa passed away on the night of Monday, 5 December.

68-year-old Jayalalithaa received treatment for many months and was last seen in public in September. The former award winning film actress has been Tamil Nadu chief minister four times and was revered by many in the state and around the country. She had a stronghold on the state and its politics.

She first came to political prominence in the min-1980s, although she was well known as an actress, starring in 300-odd films.

At the tender age of just 13, Jayalalithaa starred in her first role in an Indian Kannada film, Sri Shaila Mahathme directed by Aroor Pattabhi. Amma, as Jayalalithaa is better known, used to accompany her mother to the studios and was eventually picked up for a role. The film starred Rajkumar, Dikki Madhavarao and Balakrishna. Jayalalithaa\'s role was that of a child artist in a song from the film.

Her first film with MG Ramachandran, Aayirathil Oruvan was a big hit and gave Tamil film industry a pairing that went on to achieve blockbuster status.

She joined the Rajya Sabha in 1984 and became the opposition ruler in 1989 in Tamil Nadu to the ruling DMK. Since then, politics have never left her.

Text and photo curation by Sehar Qazi

Image credits Jayalalithaa blog