Thalaivii (2021) on Netflix
Jaya enters Tamil films at sixteen on her mother's urging and meets the actor M. G. Ramachandran. By 1989 she is an opposition legislator vowing to become chief minister.
- Netflix2.0/5
- IMDb5.9/1031,706 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes20%
Trailer
Plot summary
Jaya, an actress turned politician, sits in the Tamil Nadu assembly in 1989 as an opposition member of the AIADMK and questions Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi about corruption, arrests and surveillance of her party. She calls for his resignation and praises M. G. Ramachandran, known as MGR, as a leader who served the people. Ruling party members ask her about her ties to MGR, and the sitting breaks into a brawl in which she is manhandled and shamed. Jaya compares herself to Draupadi and vows to come back only as chief minister. The story then goes back to 1965, when MGR is at the height of his film career and Jaya is sixteen, pushed toward films by her mother Sandhya, a former actress.
Cast
- A. R. Manikandanas Moorthy
- Flora Jacobas Indira Gandhi
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Thalaivii (2021)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Kangana Ranaut was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Thalaivii, but the nomination was revoked after she accused Filmfare of having an unethical awarding system.
- Jayalalithaa's nephew Deepak Jayakumar gave the producers permission for an "honest portrayal of her life", but her niece Deepa Jayakumar complained to the Madras High Court in November 2019, saying she was the legal heir and should have been approached first.
- Prosthetic specialist Jason Collins, who worked on Captain Marvel, was hired to design Kangana Ranaut's looks, with four looks planned, and Ranaut and director A. L. Vijay flew to Los Angeles for the prosthetic sessions.
- Vidya Balan was reported in August 2018 to play Jayalalithaa before Kangana Ranaut was approached; director A. L. Vijay said Ranaut's casting would be apt for the film, and she confirmed her part in March 2019.
- Shooting was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic because the climax scene needed more than 3000 extras; Kangana Ranaut said she would not resume until it could be done on a large scale, and it was filmed in mid-November 2020.
- Vijay Deverakonda was reported to play Jayalalithaa's aide Sobhan Babu before Jisshu Sengupta was cast, though the role was dropped, and Priyamani was approached for V. K. Sasikala but could not allot dates, so the role went to Poorna.
