Jaya Prada's journey so far
Bollywood's veteran actor Jaya Prada was expelled from Samajwadi Party by chief Mulayam Singh. Jaya is the party's Member of Parliament from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.
We take a look at her journey so far.
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When she was 14-years-old, she performed a dance at her school's annual function. A film director was in the audience, and he offered her a three-minute dance number in the Telugu film Bhoomikosam. She was hesitant, but her family encouraged her to accept it. She was paid only Rs 10 for her work in the film, but she also received much greater opportunities, as the rushes of those three minutes of film was shown to the major figures of the Telugu film industry, and the floodgates opened.
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She became a major star in 1976 with a trio of hits: K. Balachander's Anthuleni Katha showcased her dramatic skills; K. Viswanath's Siri Siri Muvva showed her playing a mute with excellent dancing skills; and her title role as Sita in the big-budget mythological film Seetha Kalyanam confirmed her versatility.
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She was now able to consistently work in Hindi films and earn two more Filmfare nominations as Best Actress for playing Amitabh Bachchan's endearing girlfriend in Prakash Mehra's Sharaabi (1984) and for her challenging double role in K Vishwanath's Sanjog (1985).
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Sridevi and Jaya's hit Telugu film Devata (1982) where they played sisters who made big sacrifices for each other, was remade into the hit Hindi film Tohfaa(1984). These films endeared Jaya Prada to the traditional conservative section of filmgoers. It was an image that would serve her well when she started a new career as a politician.
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Jaya Prada was initiated into the Telugu Desam Party by her former co-star N.T.Rama Rao in 1994. She later broke away from him and joined the Chandrababu Naidu faction of the party. She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha representing Andhra Pradesh in 1996.