Also read : Kamal Haasan’s condolence message for Jayalalithaa upsets supporters It was only after I refused to do the film, that Balaji signed Sripriya for the role,” she wrote in the letter. “In fact, I have been turning down some excellent offers. Read | Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa passes away: A look into her life on screen
She had made it clear that she was not struggling to stage a comeback. However, she was pushed into the showbiz by her mother Sandhya to deal with family’s financial troubles. Perhaps you don’t know that the heroine’s role in Balaji’s ‘Billa’, opposite Rajinikanth, was first offered to me. In spite of scaling new heights and being the highest paid female actor in India of her time, she seemed to still remain reluctant to fully embrace her film career and stardom. This reluctant actor went on to become the uncrowned queen of Tamil cinema until she quit films for good. By: Express Web Desk | Bengaluru |

Published:December 7, 2016 11:40 am

Jayalalithaa’s letter to a journalist reveals why she rejected Rajinikanth’s Billa
Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa aspired to become a lawyer like her father when she was in school. Her letter to one Piousji of Khaas Baat has surfaced online after she passed away on Monday in Chennai. It was written on a Poes Garden letterhead and dated June 10, 1980, the year superstar Rajinikanth’s blockbuster film Billa released. Just a couple of years before she kick-started her journey in politics, Jayalalithaa had written a letter in response to an article, which suggested that she was not getting good offers in films.