Two winsome women with victory as prefixes to their names.

   

  The word Jeyam or Jeya would mean vicory in English.In the early Nineteen seventies there came into the Tamil silver screen,the two women Jeya Chithra and Jeya Sutha.They have quite a few significant similarities. Both of them made their entry into Tamil cinema in 1972.Jeyasudha was a year younger than Jeya Chitra. While Jeyachitra was introduced by K.S.Gopalakrishnan in Kurathi Magan,Jeya Sudha whose first film was Kula Gowravam, became a notable performer in K.Balachander's Sollathaan Ninaikirein in which Jeyachitra also did the meaty role of a highly talkative and innocent woman, failing to declare her love for the hero.

  Both Jeyachitra and Jeyasudha acted in K.B's other prominent film Arangetram. While Jeya Sudha performed an aggressive role in K.B's Abhoorva Ragangal,Jeyachitra later took up the role of an arrogant and wealthy mother in law in K.B's Puthu Puthu Arthangal. Later she did a similar arrogant role as the mother in law of Sathyaraj in Guru Danapal's film, Maman Magal. Jeyasudha's other Balachander film was Ninaithaale Inikkum.These two women made their joint entries in quite a few other well-known Tamil films like Devar's Vellikizhamai Vradham, A.C.Tirulokchander's Bharatha Vilas and Dheerga Sumangali. 

  Unlike Jeyasudha who acted more number of Telugu films,Jeyachithra's contribution to Tamil cinema was very solid. She was brilliantly paired with heroes like Sivakumar {Panathukkaga, Ponnukku Thanga Manasu,Onne Onnu Kanne Kannu and Thein Sindhudhe Vaanam besides the great film Vellikkizhamai Viradham}and with Jai Shankar in films like Yaarukku Maappillai Yaaro, Ungal Viruppam,Kalyanamaam Kalyaanam,Thottadhellaam Ponnagum, Kaliyuga Kannan,Unnaithaan Thambi,Vandikkaaaran Magan,and the most memorable  Prof.A.S. Prakasam's film Akkarai Pachai.

  Jeyachitra was also paired with Kamalahasan in Sollathaan Ninaikkirein,Pattaam Poochi and the ever-fascinating Sridhar film Ilamai Oonjalaadukiradhu.Her other films include Varaprasaadham with Ravichandran,the M.G.R film Navagraham and the Sivaji Ganesan films like Pilot Premnath, Sathyam,Lakshmi Vandhaachu and Ratha Paasam. Jeyachitra's other important films were Payanam,K.S.Gopalakrishnan's Dasaavadhaaram{as Goddess Lakshmi} Inspector Manaivi.and Mani Rathnam's Agni Natchathram as the unwed wife of Vijayakumar. Her latest films were Mani Rathnam's Ponniyin Selvan I&II

  Unlike Jeyachitra, Jeyasudha went into oblivion in 1983 to reappear after more than a decade, in Rajinikanth's film Pandian,as his elder sister and female cop. This film had challenging moments between the siblings. Later she took up elderly roles as the wife of Vijayakanth in Rajadurai and Thavasi, and as the wife of Sarath Kumar in 1977 and Vaarisu. Her character delineation and roleplay were compact and dignified as the mother of Vijayakanth in Thavasi[Vijayakanth in dual roles as father and son} and that of Vijay in Vaarisu and Karthik Sivakumar in Thozha.

  Both Jeyasudha and Jeyachithra would find their most deserving place in the annals of Tamil cinema by their distinct modes of acting and profound shades of character portrayals. Jeya chithra was a firebrand in dialogue delivery,in the line of P.Bhanumathi,Sowcar Janaki and Jeyalalitha.Her dynamic performance in films like Sollathaan Ninaikirein,Velli kkizhamai Viradham,Ponnukku Thanga Manasu and Akkarai Pachai as main role player will be ever remembered. As a nagging mother-in-law she performed remarkably well in Puthu Puthu Arthangal.

   However, Jeyasudha who did ultra-modern roles with substantial glamour quotient, became the symbol of meek motherhood in Thavasi,Thozha and Vaarisu .Especially her mother character in Vaarusu as the mother of Vijay was extraordinary appealing. Contrarily, Jeyachithra who represented the spirit of traditional womanhood in films like Vellikkizhamai Viradham,Ponnukku Thanga Manasu and Akkarai Pachai became an aggressive mother-in law in Puthu Puthu Arthangal and  Maman Magal. This kind of dramatic transition in character dimension speaks about the demonstrative acting skills of these two women, who have added victory as the prefix to their names and occupied the centre stage of South Indian cinema, as contemporaries of the same soil.

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