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Sandhya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | N. R. Vedavalli 1924 |
| Died | 1 November 1971 (aged 46–47) |
| Other names | Veda |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1954–1965 |
| Spouse(s) | Jayaram
( m. 1935; |
| Children | Jayakumar Jayalalitha Jayaram |
| Parent(s) | N. Rangasamy Iyengar (father) Kamalambal (mother) |
| Relatives | Deepa Jayakumar (Granddaughter) |
Vedavalli, better known as Sandhya (1924 – 1 November 1971) was a South Indian film actress, who appeared in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films. She adopted the screen name Sandhya for her acting career and was known for portraying character roles, often as the heroine’s sister or mother. Her younger sister, Vidyavathi, was also an actress. She was the mother of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa.[1] She acted in the Malaikkallan (1954), which starred M. G. Ramachandran and was written by M. Karunanidhi. She also acted in paired with N. T. Rama Rao in Mayabazar (1957), with Kalyan Kumar and Sivaji Ganesan in few films like Bale Pandiya (1962).
Early life and family[edit | edit source]
She was born as Vedavalli into an Tamil Iyengar Brahmin family in Srirangam, Madras Presidency, British India. Her father, Rangasamy Iyengar, moved to Mysore from Srirangam to work with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. She had one brother and two sisters—Ambujavalli and Padmavalli. Sandhya and her siblings along with their grand-parents initially lived in East Chittirai Street in Srirangam, later her father Rangasamy, who was a practicing lawyer based in Karur during the period from the 1910s to the 1930s, purchased a house from a Diwan in the same street and named it "Komala Vilas Veda Nilayam". She is of the same maternal lineage as former Attorney General of India K. Parasaran. Sandhya’s maternal family roots trace back to Sakkaravala Nallur, near Devipattinam in Ramanathapuram district. Later at this location, on 4 April 1984, her daughter Jayalalithaa donated ₹1.65 lakh from her personal funds to establish the "Annai Sandhya Memorial Nutritious Meal Centre" in memory of her mother, Sandhya.[2][3] Vedavalli was married as second wife to Jayaram, son of Narasimhan Rengachary, who is the native of Nangavaram and also later a Secretary in Mysore Palace and a lawyer of the Royal family of Mysore in 1935 at the age of 11, while she was studying in the sixth grade. The couple Jayaram and Vedvalli had two children: a son, Jayakumar, and a daughter, Jayalalitha.[4] Her husband Jayaram, was a lawyer but never worked and squandered most of the family's wealth.[5][6] Sandhya was trained in various pursuits, including reading, vocal music, veena, violin, swimming, tennis, and cross-country cycling. Following the death of her husband, Jayaram in 1950, The widowed Vedavalli returned to her father's home in Bangalore in 1950 and began working as a secretary in a company at the age of 26. Vedavalli learned shorthand and typewriting to take up a clerical position as a stenotypist in the Directorate of Agriculture under Government of Mysore to help support the family in 1950.[7]
Later career[edit | edit source]
Her younger sister Ambujavalli had moved to Madras, working as an air hostess. She also started acting in dramas and films using the screen name Vidyavathy. On the insistence of Ambujavalli, Vedavalli, also relocated to Madras and stayed with her sister from 1952. Vedavalli worked in a commercial firm in Madras and began dabbling in acting from 1953 under the screen name Sandhya. She made her film debut in 1954 tamil movie Karkottai. Jayalalithaa remained under the care of her mother's sister Padmavalli and maternal grandparents from 1950 to 1958 in Mysore.[5][4] She made her daughter Jayalalithaa attend Bishop Cotton Girls' School, Bangalore.[8] She also acted in a few Kannada films. After attaining a modest level of financial stability, she moved into a reasonably comfortable rented house on Fourth Main Road in Gandhi Nagar, Adyar to grow her children. It was here that the childhood of Jayalalithaa and her brother Jayakumar was spent. Following her growing recognition in cinema, Sandhya later relocated to Sivagnanam Street in T. Nagar. Sandhya nurtured her daughter Jayalalithaa into a disciplined and accomplished individual, whom she and later co-stars and friends referred as Ammu, training her in dance from the age of three, later teaching her piano, and often taking her along to film shooting locations.[9] During a visit to Madras, She was accompanied by her daughter Jayalalitha to Shri Shaila Mahathme film set, where she was asked to replace an absent child actress. Sandhya initially refused but later consented, and Jayalalithaa agreed to act on the condition that she would not be compelled again.[10] In 1964, Sandhya accompanied her daughter Jayalalithaa to the 100th-day celebrations of the film Karnan. During this period, filmmaker B. R. Panthulu signed Jayalalithaa to play the female lead in his Kannada film Chinnada Gombe, marking her early entry into cinema.[11] She received further opportunities to act in Kannada films, through which she was introduced as a lead actress by director C. V. Sridhar in the film Vennira Aadai,leading Jayalalithaa to forgo her college ambitions after briefly attending Stella Maris College.[12] Subsequently, her role opposite M. G. Ramachandran in Aayirathil Oruvan brought her instant fame. Within a few years, she became one of the leading actresses in South Indian cinema. Thereafter, Sandhya withdrew from acting and largely remained at home, managing her daughter’s film commitments.
In the late 1960s, when her daughter Jayalalithaa was at the peak of her fame, Sandhya developed the ambition of building a grand residence for her daughter’s future and bought a plot on 1 July 1967 at a cost of ₹ 1.32 lakh, measuring around 24,000 sq. feet (10 grounds) with a built-up area of 21,662 sq. feet in Teynampet area of Madras (now Chennai).[13][14] The design of the house was revised multiple times to suit Jayalalithaa’s preferences before it was finally constructed in its present form. The residence, later known as the Poes Garden house, was thus built with great care and aspiration for her daughter’s future. During the "Engirundho Vandhaal" (1970) film shoot, Sandhya approached her daughter Jayalalithaa to discuss purchasing sarees for relatives in connection with their house’s ground breaking ceremony. A minor disagreement arose between them, and Jayalalithaa later expressed regret, recalling that she had uttered an inauspicious remark to her mother during the exchange.[15]
Illness, death, and aftermath[edit | edit source]
However, Sandhya did not live to witness the housewarming ceremony of the home she had envisioned, which remained a significant personal loss in Jayalalithaa’s life. By mid-1971, the construction of the house had been completed. On 31 October 1971, Sandhya suddenly fell ill after vomiting blood and was admitted to a private hospital in Poonamallee. She died the following day, on 1 November 1971 at the age of 47, despite medical treatment.[16] As per her will, she bequeathed to Jayalalithaa her share in the properties of "Natayakala Niketan", along with a land and building in Poes Garden, Chennai, a house in Hyderabad, and agricultural lands measuring about 10.2 acres in Ranga Reddy district, including a grape garden, farmhouse, and servants’ quarters purchased in 1968. The will also included an additional 3.5 acres of land in Basheerabad village, Andhra Pradesh.[17]
The housewarming ceremony of the Poes Garden residence was held on 15 May 1972. Sandhya, who had envisioned celebrating the occasion with her daughter, had passed away by then and was present only in a photograph displayed in the house. Jayalalithaa named the residence “Veda Nilayam,” after her mother’s given name, Vedavalli (Sandhya). The event was attended by several prominent figures of Tamil Nadu, excepting M. G. Ramachandran, who had attended the ground breaking ceremony. Cho Ramaswamy, a close family friend and one of Jayalalithaa’s companions from her younger years was also not present in the ceremony. Sandhya had traditionally conducted family functions in his presence, and Jayalalithaa reportedly expected him to attend the occasion. Despite being in the city, Cho did not attend the ceremony. When asked about his absence, he later wrote a detailed letter explaining that he felt slighted for not being personally invited, expressing regret for the misunderstanding. After her sudden demise, Sandhya's mother Kamalambal lived along with Jayalalithaa at 'Veda Nilayam' as a support and died in 1973.[15]
Filmography[edit | edit source]
In popular culture[edit | edit source]
In the 2019 web series Queen, Tulasi Shivamani and Sonia Agarwal portrayed Ranganayaki, the fictional adaptation of Sandhya. In the Tamil film Thalaivii (2021), Sandhya was portrayed by Bhagyashree.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "அன்று சந்தியா... இன்று சசிகலா... ஜெயலலிதா வாழ்க்கையில் பயணித்த மூவர்!". கட்டுரை. ஆனந்த விகடன். 14 October 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ↑ "தமிழகத்தில் முன்னோடி மையமாக தேவிப்பட்டினம் சத்துணவுக் கூடம் தேர்வு: ஜெயலலிதாவின் நிதியுதவியில் கட்டப்பட்டது". dinamani (in தமிழ்). 14 July 2018.
- ↑ "தேவிபட்டினத்தில் தாயார் நினைவாக சொந்த செலவில் ஜெயலலிதா அமைத்த சத்துணவுக் கூடம்". hindutamil (in தமிழ்). 8 December 2016.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chandrakanth, W (6 December 2016). "A never-say-die leader". The Hans India. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Srinivasaraju, Sugata (21 March 2011). "The Road To Ammahood". Outlook India. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ↑ "ஜெயலலிதாவின் தாயார் சந்தியா மைசூர் கோர்ட்டில் சந்தித்த வழக்கு!". கட்டுரை. ஒன் இந்தியா. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ↑ "அம்மாவும்... அம்மாவின் அம்மாவும்!". vikatan. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ↑ "Profile". Government of Tamil Nadu. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ↑ Babu, Venkatesha (6 December 2016). "Ammu to Amma: The life and times of Jayalalithaa Jayaraman". Business Today. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ↑ ""என் வாழ்வை வழிநடத்தியது விதி... எல்லாம் என் தலையெழுத்து!" - ஜெயலலிதா கடந்த பாதை". Vikatan. 24 February 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
- ↑ "Jayalalithaa's early film days set the stage for politics". times of india. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ↑ "ஜெயலலிதா 10... அறிந்ததும் அறியாததும்!". vikatan. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ↑ "Veda Nilayam set to become Jayalalithaa memorial". The Hindu. 7 May 2020.
- ↑ "Jayalalithaa's assets double – the secret seems to be real estate". The News Minute. 6 June 2015.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "சந்தியா, எம்.ஜி.ஆர், சோ, ஜெயலலிதா... இது போயஸ் கார்டன் வீட்டின் கதை!". Vikatan. 19 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ↑ "இறந்தபின்னும் மகளின் ஆசையை நிறைவேற்றிய சந்தியா; ஜெயலலிதாவினால் மறக்க முடியாத தீபாவளி". Vikatan. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
- ↑ "Tamil Nadu: [[:Template:As written]] residence is it anyway? Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden lies unoccupied". Hindustan Times. 25 June 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
{{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ↑ "ஜெ.ஜெயலலிதா என்னும் நான்... - அம்மாவின் கதை! - 6". Ananda Vikatan (in தமிழ்). 21 February 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "இருவர் உள்ளம்: அப்பவே அப்படி கதை – இருவர் உள்ளம் படத்துக்கு 56 வயது!" [Iruvar Ullam – Then itself such a story – The film Iruvar Ullam turns 56!]. Hindu Tamil Thisai (in தமிழ்). 29 March 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)