<div>“Fifty years ago, when I was taking her photographs in her Madras house, I did not imagine that Jayalalithaa would become so famous. I still cherish those days,” Bhavani Lakshminarayan, a veteran photographer from Chikkaballapur, recalled. Lakshminarayan said that he had done still photography for two films in which Jayalalithaa acted, but was unable to recall their titles given his advanced age. In 1965, the shooting for the Kannada film ‘Maavana Magalu’ was on at the Nandi Hills, near Chikkaballapur.<br /><br />Jayalalithaa and Kalyankumar starred in the movie. Lakshminarayan recalls clicking pictures of the film shooting. Sandhya, Jayalalithaa’s mother, had even written a letter to Lakshminarayan, saying that Jaya was progressing well in her acting career. <br /><br />“She is desirous of making her name in Kannada filmdom. Hence, whenever you come to Madras, click her photographs and encourage her. Give your blessings for the budding actor,” the letter said.<br /><br />Accepting Sandhya’s invitation, Lakshminarayan went to the house of Jayalalaithaa in T Nagar, Madras (now Chennai), and had clicked her photographs. They were published in several periodicals also.<br /><br />“I have met Jayalalithaa at her house four times. She was very hospitable, but reticent. She used to shower lot of affection on me. I used to click 10-15 pictures of Jaya whenever I visited her,” Lakshminarayan said. He said that he went to meet Jayalalithaa after she became Tamil Nadu chief minister. But she was on a tour.</div>
<div>“Fifty years ago, when I was taking her photographs in her Madras house, I did not imagine that Jayalalithaa would become so famous. I still cherish those days,” Bhavani Lakshminarayan, a veteran photographer from Chikkaballapur, recalled. Lakshminarayan said that he had done still photography for two films in which Jayalalithaa acted, but was unable to recall their titles given his advanced age. In 1965, the shooting for the Kannada film ‘Maavana Magalu’ was on at the Nandi Hills, near Chikkaballapur.<br /><br />Jayalalithaa and Kalyankumar starred in the movie. Lakshminarayan recalls clicking pictures of the film shooting. Sandhya, Jayalalithaa’s mother, had even written a letter to Lakshminarayan, saying that Jaya was progressing well in her acting career. <br /><br />“She is desirous of making her name in Kannada filmdom. Hence, whenever you come to Madras, click her photographs and encourage her. Give your blessings for the budding actor,” the letter said.<br /><br />Accepting Sandhya’s invitation, Lakshminarayan went to the house of Jayalalaithaa in T Nagar, Madras (now Chennai), and had clicked her photographs. They were published in several periodicals also.<br /><br />“I have met Jayalalithaa at her house four times. She was very hospitable, but reticent. She used to shower lot of affection on me. I used to click 10-15 pictures of Jaya whenever I visited her,” Lakshminarayan said. He said that he went to meet Jayalalithaa after she became Tamil Nadu chief minister. But she was on a tour.</div>
