Born on April 8, 1962 as Lalitha Rani Rao in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh into a Telugu-speaking family, Jaya Prada was one of the biggest female stars in the Hindi and Telugu film industries in the late 1970s and 80s. She was enrolled into music and dance classes at an early age, and that's how she was discovered by the director KB Tilak after watching her performance at her school function when she was just 12.
Tilak offered her a three-minute dance number in his Telugu film Bhoomi Kosam in 1974. Though Jaya Prada was paid only Rs 10 for the same, her music and dance impressed the giants in Tollywood. She was flooded with multiple film offers and six releases in 1976. Three of them were major hits and thus, there was no looking back for Jaya. She also began working in Tamil cinema. She gave hits with superstars NT Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Rajinikanth, and Kamal Haasan.
In 1979, Jaya Prada made her Bollywood debut in Sargam opposite Rishi Kapoor. In the 1980s, the actress cemented her status in Bollywood and became one of the highest-paid actresses in the industry. She made successful pairings with Amitabh Bachchan and Jeetendra, and gave multiple blockbusters with them including Sharaabi, Aaj Ka Arjun, Tohfa, Aakhree Raasta, Sanjog, Aulaad, and Thanedaar.
Jaya Prada entered politics in 1994 and cut back on her film projects. In a career spanning over two decades, the actress starred in over 300 films in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam languages.
Jaya Prada's most harrowing experience on sets
In an old interview with Doordarshan, Jaya Prada recalled her most distressing experience while shooting a film. The actress shared that she was made to stand on one leg and vomitted while shooting a sequence for the 1981 Telugu film Agni Poolu. Jaya said, "When I went to rehearsals, I was sick. I had 103 temperature. The choreographer was a strict master. When I walked in, I was just five minutes late for which he made me stand on single leg for half an hour as a punishment. I started crying because I was not well. He realised and eventually, we started rehearsing."
"During the rehearsals, because I had to move like a snake repeatedly, my back had rashes and I had a terrible hairfall. I even had to eat like a snake because I would vomit while shooting. It was tough. But when the film came out, people heaped praises on me. It was a hit. So, it all felt worth it", she concluded.
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