Jaya had turned down a tempting offer to star opposite Rajini in Billa

Mumbai: In a letter that’s gone viral over the day, it’s been revealed that former Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa, who passed away on Monday, had turned down multiple offers to make a comeback to cinema, including one opposite Rajinikanth in Billa. The phase was prior to her formal induction into AIADMK in 1982.

According to the letter written by her, addressed to a certain ‘Piousji’ who wrote for ‘Khaas Baat,’ a publication house, clarifying she wasn’t vying to make a comeback to films.

"I feel constrained to point out that I'm not, I repeat, not 'struggling to stage a come-back'. I am at a loss to understand how you gained this erroneous impression."

Jayalalithaa had acted in over 140 films over the course of three decades.

She then goes on to add, "In fact, I have been turning down some excellent offers. Perhaps you don't know that the heroine's role in Balaji's 'Billa', opposite Rajinikanth, was first offered to me. It was only after I refused to do the film, that Balaji signed Sripriya for the role. Everybody knows that Balaji is one of the foremost film producers in India today, and Rajinikanth is Tamil screen's superstar. If I am capable of turning down such a dazzling offer, does that not prove conclusively that I am not in the least struggling to stage a come-back?"

The charismatic six-time Chief Minister ruled the political arena and Tamil cinema world alike for decades on end.

"By God's grace, I am extremely well off financially, and I can continue to live like a queen for the rest," she concluded.

Jayalalithaa died at the Apollo Hospitals at 11: 30 on Monday night, succumbing to complications following a cardiac arrest, plunging Tamil Nadu and her party, the AIADMK, into a political crisis.

Jayalalithaa's close aide Sasikala Natarajan performed her last rites at the MGR memorial. The MGR memorial is home to the mortal remains of Jaya's mentor and AIADMK founder M. G. Ramachandran, the man who introduced the 'puratchi thalaivi' to the world of Dravidian politics.

Rajinikanth, accompanied by his family, also had arrived to pay his last respects to her.