Superstar Rajinikanth this morning visited the public auditorium where J Jayalalithaa's body, draped in the national flag, was displayed for lakhs of visitors before her funeral.
Rajinikanth, 65, was seen standing next to Sasikala Natarajan, who was Ms Jayalalithaa's closest aide. The actor then bowed his head in respect, paying tribute to one of the most powerful and successful political leaders in the country.
Like Rajinikanth, Ms Jayalalithaa was a wildly popular actor. She acted in nearly 150 films before she was initiated into politics in the 80s by her former co-star and mentor, MG Ramachandran.
In 1996, Rajinikanth, whose fan following is stratospheric, had famously declared "Even God can't save Tamil Nadu if Jayalalithaa is elected to power". Ms Jayalalithaa's rival, the DMK, won that election. The superstar later made up with Ms Jayalalithaa and she attended his daughter's wedding in Chennai in November 2004.
Other actors who mourned the death of Jayalalithaa include Dhanush, Sivakarthikeyan, Sathyaraj, Karthi and Vijay Sethupathi. The final rites were performed this evening.
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