I remember Jayalalithaa as a wonderful co-star:Dharmendra

Veteran actor Dharmendra gets nostalgic as he recalls his shooting days with Tami Nadu chief minister, late Jayalalithaa.

Our very own Garam Dharam, aka Dharmendra, had the singular honour of being the only Bollywood actor to have worked with Jayalalithaa.

Actor Dharmendra says Jayalalithaa was a wonderful co-star.

He speaks fondly of his erstwhile co-star. “When I heard of her death all the memories of our shooting together came rushing back to me.We had a great time. The film was called Izzat (1968) and I had a double role. I was cast opposite Kajol’s mother Tanuja ,and Jayalalithaa. Back then, she was not the iconic ‘Amma’ that she later became to the whole nation. She was a dedicated, focused co-star.”

Recalling the days of shooting with her ,Dharmendra says, “We shot for one month and a half in Manali. The location was lovely, the co-stars were lovelier and the food was the loveliest. Jayalalithaa would come on the sets with her mother and they would often bring delicious South Indian food for all of us. Those were the days when close ties were formed among all the people who worked together.”

Jayalalithaa was Tamil Nadu’s chief minister and had a mass following.

Dharmendra remembers Jayalalithaa as a good co-star, good friend and even better dancer. “Like Hema (Malini), she was a terrific dancer. I remember she had good songs and dance sequences in Izzat. We had a whale of a time shooting.”