Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa's demise on Monday has brought to an end an era in Indian politics.
The 68-year-old former was the queen of charisma. Her persona brought her huge success in films, and later as a politician, it won her popularity among her supporters but she also used it sharply against her political rivals.
Born in 1948, Jayalalithaa finished her schooling and college in Bengaluru and Chennai. A polyglot, she was fluent in several languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English. She was also a voracious reader and excelled at school; she won the Gold State Award for coming first in Class 10.
Her training Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Mohiniyattam dancer, Jayalalithaa's foray into acting is well-known.
Having worked in over 140 movies over the course of more than 30 years, Jayalalithaa worked with some of the most popular figures in Tamil cinema of the time including MGR, Sivaji Ganesan and Karunanidhi.
In 1982, she was inducted into the party by MGR, and there was no looking back after that.
Jayalalithaa has been able to achieve such feverish popularity, cutting across class and caste divides. No other leader who emerged after her has been able to match her in any capacity.
Here's The News Minute's tribute to Puratchi Thalaivi.