Jayalalithaa Jayaram, born 24 February 1948) commonly referred to as J. Jayalalitha, is the former Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. She is the incumbent general secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a Dravidian party. She is called "Amma"  and "Puratchi Thalaivi" by her followers. She was a film actor in Tamil and Telugu cinema before entering politics. She was born in a Tamil Iyengar family in Mysore, Karnataka and was named as Komalavalli. She is a native of Srirangam, Trichy.