The Tamil audience loves me immensely: Jaya Prada

Jaya Prada is the quintessential survivor who always seems to land on her feet. A movie diva of yesteryears who also had a successful stint in politics, is now returning to Tamil cinema in the all-new avatar of a producer. Jaya is launching her nephew Siddhu in a Tamil film Uyire Uyire. She was recently in the city and spoke to DC about her comeback, her political career and much more.

She says, “My life is a dream come true. As an artist I had a career spanning three decades across different languages. Full credit to my guru Balachander sir for the life lessons I received. Although I have done only a few Tamil films, the audiences love me immensely. The industry has welcomed me with open arms and I love it unconditionally.”

Asked why she chose to launch her nephew Siddhu, who she lovingly refers to as a son, in Kolly, she explains “I feel like it is like my world  a bit tough. People ask me, when there are such great actors here, how will he survive? But I feel this industry has a big heart. Unlike Telugu and Hindi industries, where all the heroes have launched their sons; in Kolly, be it Rajini sir or Kamal sir, they are promoting their daughters. So there is a gap. Hence I am launching my son here.”
Veteran actress Jayaprada, who is more than happy to introduce her nephew in K’town with the movie Uyire Uyire, says the film is a remake of the Telugu flick Ishq. “The film has a huge hit in Telugu  it had hit songs, great characters and catered to the youth. It had a vibrant love story and audience loves such a subject.” To her credit, Jaya Prada succeeded in signing on a biggie like Hansika for his maiden venture. “Hansika has a bubbly role, and after Romeo Juliet, this character will bring her into the limelight because she is in every frame. This was my first experience with the younger generation, so I was impressed with her confident body language  she is a director’s delight!”

When asked to reminisce about her career in Tamil, she says “Dasavatharam was my last Tamil film, but I will soon return, I am on the lookout for a good script.” Has politics put films on the backburner? “When Kamal Hassan came to Jayapradam my commercial show, he scolded me, saying ‘Jaya, why have you chosen politics, I don’t like you going into politics!’ He meant that I was wasting my screen talent, and I was honored. As an actress I did not crave glamorous roles, but performance-oriented ones. I am looking for a good subject for my acting comeback.”

When asked to name a favourite  politics or films, she laughs. “Politics is a bonus, my stardom helped me in but I’ll never say that I’m a politician. I never fit into politics, I don’t have political brain. I stalled the parliament on the issue of 33 per cent reservation for women, raised my voice about the Nirbhaya rape case and about the beedi workers, that came from my heart.”
There is also an important difference between the politics of the north and the south. “In the south, being in politics is like heaven whereas in the north it’s a totally different ball game. You need a big and brave heart to fight up north.”

Reacting to a query on why Amar Singh presents the movie Uyire Uyire, she said, “His knowledge about the film industry is encyclopedic. He is my mentor in politics. I wanted to speak proper Hindi on entering Mulayam Singh’s party, and Amar Singhji wrote my first speech. My first film in Tamil as a producer is my tribute to him.”