Jayalalithaa spent most of her life in public glare, but the five-time Tamil Nadu CM was fiercely protective about her personal life.Here are six things you may not have known about the iconic leader who passed away on Monday:
* Politics was not a natural choice for her. Growing up, she wanted to be a lawyer not a politician.
* She may have been a star in Tamil cinema but as a girl she had a crush on someone far removed from that world — former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.
* She figures in the Guinness Book of World Records for hosting the “largest wedding banquet/reception”. During her first term as Chief Minister in 1995, she organised a massive and lavish wedding for her foster son Sudakaran. Over 1,50,000 guests were invited at a 50-acre ground in Chennai.
* Jayalalithaa was an avid reader. Despite her busy life, she kept up with reading and used to carry books whenever she travelled.
* Jayalalithaa had a brief career in Bollywood. After she became a star in the Tamil film industry, she also tried her luck in Bollywood and acted in a few Hindi films, including Izzat opposite Dharmendra.
* In 1997, Jayalalithaa took a pledge to not wear any jewellery. She stayed true to it for the next 14 years.
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