Sridevi's uncanny connection with Jayalalithaa

Pic Courtesy: Movie still

New Delhi: Many years ago, when a four-year-old girl dressed as a boy appeared in front of the Tamil audience along with a slightly older woman, who would have thought that these two women would go on to become some of the most popular actresses not only in the Tamil film industry but also in Bollywood.

The child artiste was none other than the queen of expressions, Sridevi whose sudden death has dealt a major blow to the film industry. The other actress featuring in the picture is Jayalalithaa, the woman who ruled the celluloid world first and then went on to rule in politics too. Unfortunately, both these superstars who had a similar start in the same city are not amongst us today.  But did you know, they had a rather uncanny connection between the two actresses?

Jayalalithaa was born on February 24 and Sridevi, sadly left the world on the same day in 2018. One of the first films of Sridevi's career as a child artist had Jayalalithaa too. The film, Nam Nodu, in which both the superstar actresses featured together became a super hit.

Subsequently, Sridevi and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa were seen in many films together.

In 1971, both appeared in a mythological drama Ádi Parashakti, in which Sridevi, who was just four-years-old back then, played the role of Lord Murugan. Post their stint together in Ádi Parashakti, the duo starred in a Telugu film Bharya Biddalu, followed by Thirumangalyam in 1974.

Both the ladies from Tamil Nadu shattered the glass ceiling in the world of cinema and otherwise. While Jayalalithaa quit cinema and followed her mentor MG Ramachandran's path and joined politics, Sridevi won hearts in Bollywood through her expressions and comic undertones.

In an interview to a leading daily, Sridevi had said, "When I was a child star, I admired her (Jayalalithaa) as a goddess, and I have some really sweet memories of the interactions we have had.” On being asked if she would like to play her character in Jayalalithaa's biopic, Sridevi had said that she is not ready to do justice to Jayalalithaa's role yet. Unfortunately, for her fans to see her play Jayalalithaa will now remain an unfulfilled desire.

When the actor-turned-politician passed away on December 5, 2016, Sridevi had posted many memories with the late CM on Twitter. She also expressed how lucky she was to have worked with her.

Sridevi had primarily acted with all the leading southern superstars from Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and even MG Ramachandran as a child artist. The actress suffered a massive cardiac arrest on Saturday night in Dubai and was declared dead by the doctors.