Jaya Prada
Jaya PradaScreenshot/ABN Telugu

Actress-turned-politician Jaya Prada might have had a successful ride in the film industry but things were not that smooth for the actress in the political sphere.

The 56-year-old actress opened up about contesting elections and her link-up rumours with minister Amar Singh.

Talking at the Queensline Literature Festival with author Ram Kamal, Jaya Prada talked about the time when she was being threatened of an acid attack. She recalled that upon leaving home during that phase, she wasn't sure whether she would come back or not. "Because the state I was in, contesting elections with Azam Khan, as a woman, with acid attack threats, threat to my life... I couldn't even tell my mother if I would come back alive whenever I left from home," she told PTI.

Talking about how she considers Amar Singh her mentor and Godfather but people gave it a different name, Jaya Prada said, "Only Amar Singh ji, who came out of his dialysis, stood next to me, supported me. What will you think of him? Godfather or someone else? Even if I tie rakhi to him, will people stop talking? I don't care what people say."

Jaya Prada recalled the phase when her morphed images prompted link-up rumours with Amar Singh and the subsequent threats to her life forced her to contemplate suicide.

"Amar Singh was on dialysis and my morphed pictures were being circulated in the region. I was crying and saying I don't want to live anymore, I want to commit suicide. I was going through that trauma and no one supported me," Prada said.

Jaya Prada, who has been a well-known name in the film industry as well as the political spectrum, said she doesn't feel any less than Manikarnika. She said that being a woman in a male-dominated sphere is tough and for her, the journey has not been an easy ride either.