The two movie stars who I admired the most in Tamil film industry are Jayalalitha and Srividya. From boldness, beauty to being self made and trusting wrong people, both had many identical traits. While Jayalalitha was elder to Srividya by 5 years, both of them worked in the industry at the same time and acted in a dozen movies together. Sadly, they ended up living the life of characters they played on screen - Venniradai and Aboorvaragangal.
Recently, I watched Srividya's brother's wife share the life journey and trials and tribulations faced by the actress and I realized not just people but their life stories can bear uncanny resemblance.
Here are some similarities I could spot
- Their mothers were artists and sole breadwinners of the family
- Both their fathers were irresponsible and lived off their wife
- These women learnt Barathanatyam at an early age and were also great singers and came into movies due to family situation
- They longed for love and care from parents who were too busy and unavailable
- Both of them were introverts, artistic, bold, beautiful, and adamant
- They had a sibling (brother) and a small circle of friends
- Both longed for a simple family life with children
- They trusted the wrong men and got into relationships that brought them down
- Both of them were conscious about their weight and explored treatments for weight loss
- They built homes with their hard earned money that was usurped by someone they trusted
- The characters they played in Aboorva Ragangal and Venniradai ended up being their life story
- Both of them disconnected with their families at some point and finally died as orphans and were given State honors with a grand funeral
The popular belief about seven "doppelgangers" seems true and may be we could have 7 identical stories too? Let us explore the other 5...
