Kangana Ranaut will play the former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in the upcoming biopic Thalaivi, directed by AL Vijay. The announcement came just before Kangana’s birthday on Saturday.
Baahubali writer Vijayendra Prasad will work on the film’s script. He last worked with Kangana on Manikarnika. The film is planned for release in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.
#KanganaRanaut has officially signed to play #Jayalalithaa in biopic of the legendary actress and former TN CM.
A L Vijay directs this film titled #Thalaivi@vishinduri is producing it, while Vijayendra Prasad has penned the script.
— Jalapathy Gudelli (@JalapathyG) March 22, 2019
Speaking to Silverscreen, director AL Vijay said, “We considered several leading actors, and were concerned about their schedules. When Vijayendra Prasad came on board, he suggested Kangana’s name. She’s a two time National Award winner and is reputed through the country. We met her with the script, and she readily agreed. She was also excited.”
The music for the film is by GV Prakash, a regular collaborator with the director. “When we approached him, he also readily agreed,” said Vijay. They have worked on Madrasapattinam, Deiva Thirumagal, Thalaivaa, and the upcoming film Watchman.
Talks for the film have been on for the last month, and the shoot might begin from July. “There’s a lot of preparation to do before that. We will make other official announcements soon,” said the director.
Vishnu Vardhan Induri will be producing the film. Madhan Karky has joined as the lyricist.
Last month, it was reported that Sai Pallavi may star as Sasikala. This is yet to be confirmed. She made her Tamil debut with director AL Vijay in the film Karu, and was recently seen in Maari 2.
Thalaivi was granted a no-objection certificate by Jayaliathaa’s nephew Deepak Jayakumar, making it her authorised biography. The producers released the first look poster on Jayalalithaa’s birthday.
Marking the birthday of J #Jayalalitha, the makers of her Official Biopic announce the Tamil Title of the Trilingual film as #Thalaivi, directed by Vijay. This film got the status "Official Biopic" as the production team got the NOC from Mr Deepak , the nephew of Ms Jayalalitha. pic.twitter.com/BKn7GDon84
— Done Channel (@DoneChannel1) February 24, 2019
Directors Priyadarshini, Bharathiraja, Lingusamy, and Gautham Vasudev Menon have also announced biopics on Jayalalithaa. Adithya Bharadwaj and Dasari Narayana Rao suggested they may be directing films on Jayalalithaa’s life, but the status of those projects is unknown.
