Thalaivi Trailer Talk: Kangana Ranaut Is The Queen In A Man’s World

With just two weeks to go for the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, the makers of the Jayalalitha biopic chose this moment to release the much-delayed Thalaivi trailer. The trailer launch also coincided with its leading star Kangana Ranaut's 34th birthday.

In the three-minute trailer, we get several vignettes taking us through the different phases of the actor's life starting from her career as a top Tamil heroine to the later stage when she becomes a politician.

The Thalaivi is shown in differnt looks that fans of older Tamil cinema will immediately remember. Her first dialogue in the trailer itself is MGR's invite to ask her to join active political life.

Among other significant moments we witness is Amma's arguments with Veerappan (played by Samuthirakani), MGR's death, the argument at the assembly that led her vow of becoming CM and the different incidents that led to her finally becoming the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

The trailer shows a lot of promise with great art direction. The stage on Mount Road and Amma's balcony at the Poes Garden house connect immediately with the viewer. Apart from a small issue with Kangana's Tamil dubbing, the biopic gives us the excitement of a grand epic with scale and beauty.

Among the major characters in the film only Sasikala's (Poorna) and Karunanidhi's (Prakash Raj) remains absent, perhaps for a later trailer.

Directed by Vijay, who had recently made a segment in the anthology Kutti Story, the trilingual went on floors as far as November 2019 with the pandemic causing further delays with its release.

Watch the Tamil trailer here:

A first look video with Arvind Swami dancing just like MGR had released a year ago. Looking almost identical, the clip brought a lot of positive attention to the film and its making after an initial hiccup due to the film's first poster.

Kangana Ranaut, who plays Jayalalitha in the film, just won her fourth National Award yesterday for her combined performance in Manikarnika and Panga.

Among the writers of the film are K. V. Vijayendra Prasad, the writer of the two Baahubali films. Thalaivi is shot by DOP Vishal Vittal and GV Prakash Kumar and Rachita Arora are handling the film's music.  It is produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Shailesh R Singh.

The film is expected to release on April 23, 2021.

In recent times, Thalaivi is the second biopic to be made on CM Jayalalitha's life. Gautham Menon (along with Prasath Murugesan) had earlier directed Queen, a mini-series for MX Player tracing three phases of the actor-turned-politician's life starring Ramya Krishnan.