V. N. Janaki Pic images with whatsapp number and contact address

Janaki was born in the town of Vaikom in Kottayam district of Travancore Princely state into a family with ties to both Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Her father, Rajagopal Iyer, was a Tamil Brahmin of high caste hailing from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, and was the brother of Papanasam Sivan, the celebrated musician and composer. Her mother, Narayani Amma, belonged to Vaikom and was of a Keralite matrilineal caste. The relationship between Janaki's parents was intercaste, and confirmed to the Sambandam tradition widely accepted at that time in Kerala society. This being the case, Janaki belonged to the family and caste of her mother, not of her father, a fact reflected in the fact that she was known only by her mother's name as "Vaikom Narayaniamma Janaki" or "V.N. Janaki," with no mention of her father or his surname. Janaki had a brother, P. Narayanan, who became an educationalist.

Janaki's family was poor, and education was not a priority. She therefore did not study beyond primary school, but received lessons in music and dance, skills which would enable her to follow in the footsteps of her mother, who was an entertainer. In 1939, the 16-year-old Janaki was married to a Brahmin gentleman, Ganapathi Bhat. This was manifestly a Sambandam relationship; intercaste marriage was illegal in India until after independence. A couple of years later, the couple were blessed with a son, Surendran, who currently holds the rights to his step-father M. G. Ramachandran's autobiography.

However, Janaki was enamoured of the entertainment industry and found her domestic life dull in comparison to her dreams. She wanted to be a star like her uncle, and indeed her background in music and dance had equipped her with skills that would be useful to her in that field. Her husband, Ganapathy Bhat, was also working in the film world, often in association with Janaki's uncle. However, he was not supportive of the idea of his wife performing in films or before the public, although she was from an entertainment background. Janaki was adamant about pursuing her dreams, because after all entertainment is what she had been prepared for since childhood. Her marriage (or sambandam) deteriorated because of her constant dissatisfaction and she finally left her husband in order to pursue her dreams of becoming a movie star. She leveraged her contacts and her relationship with her uncle to get whatever small roles she could in sundry films, and awaited the big break which would change her life.

Janaki's efforts finally bore fruit and she became a moderately successful actress in the late 1940s. She starred in more than 25 movies including Mohini (1948), Raja Mukthi, Velaikaari, Aiyiram Thalaivangiya Aboorva Chintamani, Devaki and Marudhanaattu Ilavarasi. Many of her hits were in films where the actor M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) played the lead role, and she played either the herione (Marudhanaattu Ilavarasi) or a major supporting role (Raja Mukthi, Velaikkaari etc). The first film where the two acted together was Mohini (1948), which was the first real blockbuster for both of them.

Soon, Janaki and MGR fell in love with each other. MGR had been married twice before this, but both his wives had died of illnesses by this time. Janaki and her husband Ganapathi had never become reconciled to each other, athought they still remained married. Until 1956, there had been no provision at all in Indian law for divorce or dissolution of a Hindu marriage, because divorce is regarded as the greatest possible abomination in the Hindu religion. Even after 1956, and until 1976, there was no provision for divorce by "mutual consent" and it was necessary for the petitioner to prove that the other party had created some great offense, like adultery. However, Ganapathi and Janaki both knew that they could not live with each other, both of them had built other lives for themselves, and their son Surendran was more than 20 years old by now. They therefore reached an agreement between themselves, approached the court with a petition on grounds of adultery, and secured a divorce which ended their marriage of more than 20 years.

After all this had transpires, Janaki and MGR were married to each other in 1963. She was his third wife and he was her second husband. Janaki, who was past 40 by now and had become relegated to side roles, withdrew from films and devoted herself to domesticity. The couple did not have any children with each other. MGR (who had no children by any wife) is alleged to have taken an affectionate interest in the wellbeing of his step-son Surendran.

For a full two decades between 1950 and 1970, MGR was perhaps the greatest star of the Tamil film industry. At the time of their wedding in 1963, he was at his pinaccle, and his place remained firm well into the 1970s. As is so often the case in Tamil Nadu, he was able to channelize the adulation he received as a film star into building a political career for himself. In the early years, he had linked himself to the DMK, but after perceiving that his prospects within that party were limited, he decided to strike out on his own and formed his own political party, the AIADMK. He swept the elections of 1977 and took office as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He remained Chief Minister from that time until the day of his death in 1987. Janaki was at his side throughout, but only as a devoted wife. She played no role and took little interest in his political activities or in matters of state. MGR chose to groom other young leaders of his party for political responsibility, including the blockbuster hit actress J. Jayalalitha, with who he was said to share a personal and intimate relationship.

Nevertheless, when her husband MGR died in 1987, Janaki was asked by party members to take his place. In deference to their wishes, Janaki Ramachandran (as she was now known) became Chief minister in January 1988, shortly after her husband's death. However, her government lasted only 24 days, the shortest in the history of Tamil Nadu. She took his place as the Leader of the AIADMK party, which subsequently split into two factions.

Her ministry went for a sensitive vote of confidence of the Eighth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in January 1988. This was because AIADMK coalition with 194 MLAs had split into 3 factions, with one faction supporting jayalalitha (30 MLA) and other supporting the new CM janaki (101). The congress party, under the directive of its national chief and then PM Rajiv gandhi, had decided to completely vote neutral. The opposition severely demanded secret singular voting in the assembly, on the day of vote. But the speaker, rejected this. The speaker was a janaki supporter, and had already disqualified 30 MLA of jayalalltha faction, and also 15 MLA of DMK from MLA office, the previous day. He had also decreed that the cabinet must garner support of MLAs, who were physically present in the assembly at the time of vote. So instead of proving majority in 234 with just 101, janaki had to prove majority in 198, which was easily possible. So, the speaker silenced the assembly, and called for vote. The DMK and AIADMK MLAs clashed within assembly, and many were injured bloodily, including the speaker. Without alternative, the speaker requested the CM to protect the house, and as a last measure, the CM called police into the house to quell the riot. Police and goons (disguised as police) classed with each other. In midst of all these problems, the speaker announced unilaterally that the cabinet had won motion of confidence, and then ordered everyone to leave the hall, and he himself left the hall.

But the Central Government under the late Rajiv Gandhi, refused to accept this motion of confidence, and used Article 356 of the Constitution of India to dismiss her government in February the same year. Her party was subsequently defeated in the next elections that were held in 1989. She quit politics after the unification of the two factions of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam .^[5]

She died of a cardiac arrest on 19 May 1996.

Janaki Ramachandran gifted her property in Avvai Shanmugham Salai (Lloyds Road) in honour of her husband to the AIADMK. It subsequently became the headquarters of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party in 1986. She also willed her property in Arcot Street in T.Nagar to set up the Dr.MGR Memorial House in 1988.^[6] She was the founder chairman of The Satya Educational & Charitable Society managing many free educational institutions in Chennai. She gave property worth many million dollars^[7] for the establishment of educational and charitable institutions in Tamil Nadu. She was also instrumental in setting up the Janaki Ramachandran Educational & Charitable Trust.^[8] and are her gifts to charity.^[9]

• Kollywood
• Chennai
• Tamil Nadu
• J. Jayalalithaa
• Dr.MGR Janaki College of Arts and Science for Women
• Dr.MGR Home and Higher Secondary School for the Speech and Hearing Impaired