Jayalalithaa Jayaram was a popular actress in Tamil cinema before her entry into politics. She has appeared in over 140 Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films apart from some films in English and Hindi. Jayalalithaa`s mother persuaded her to work in films when she was 15 years old. She made her debut in the English film Epistle (1961) and went on to debut as a lead actress in the Kannada film Chinnada Gombe (1964). Some of Jayalalithaa`s well known films are Vennira Aadai (1965), Chandradhoyam (1966), Aayirathil Oruvan (1965), Manushulu Mamathalu (1966), Kavalkaaran (1967), the Hindi film Izzat (1968) and Adimai Penn (1969). Jayalalithaa also starred in Deiva Magan (1969), the first Tamil film to be selected as India`s official entry for Oscars. She was praised by the critics for her outstanding performance in the National Award winning film Pattikada (1972) and Suryakanti (1973). Jayalalithaa soon quit acting to concentrate on her political career. She was elected as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for three terms.