Veteran actor Dharmendra on Tuesday said he was "deeply shocked" by the death of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa who acted with him in the Hindi movie "Izzat".
"I am deeply shocked. She was my co-star. We worked together in 'Izzat' in 1968," the 81-year-old Dharmendra told TV9 AMARATHI channel.
"At that time, we stayed for nearly one-and-a-half months in Kulu-Manali (Himachal Pradesh) for the shooting. She was there with her mother who prepared food for us," an emotional Dharmendra said.
Later, whenever he visited Chennai, he would speak with her on telephone, but had not met her for years, the actor said.
"When I learnt she was very ill, I fervently prayed for her recovery," he said.
Jayalalithaa made her debut in Bollywood with the musical blockbuster 'Izzat', playing the role of a tribal girl Jhumki, who is in love with a high-caste character played by Dharmendra.
Izzat was directed by T Prakash Rao, who mostly directed films down south but also gave several successful Hindi films with south Indian actresses. Rao directed Vyjanthimala in College Girl and Duniya. Jayalalithaa’s Hindi debut didn’t do well at the box office but it is still remembered for Jayalalitha’s graceful dance on Jaagi re badan mein jawala saiyyan tuney kya kar dala, which was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. This hit song was composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. The lyrics were written by Sahir Ladhianvi.
Produced by F.C. Mehra and directed by T. Prakash Rao, the other female co-star in the movie was Tanuja.
