A.L. Vijay’s Thalaivi, the upcoming biopic on the life of the late Jayalalithaa, is moving in full force, with its scheduled release coming up on the 26^th of June this year. The project, starring KanganaRanaut as Jayalalithaa, Arvind Swami as MGR, Priyamani as Sasikala and Prakash Raj as M. Karunanidhi, is in it’s shooting stage and all the actors are busy with packed schedules.

Recently, on the sets of the movie, Kangana Ranaut was interviewed during a brief lull in her otherwise full day, where she shared her experiences taking the role of such a compelling historical figure among other things.

Kangana is no stranger to doing biopics as her lengthy and decorated career has evidenced, but this has been a different experience according to her. On this, she said “Even in Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, my role was loosely based on Madhubala. But after Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, this is my next proper biopic. It’s not that I choose these roles. I can say I’m only fortunate because I’ve been able to have this opportunity.”

She added, “Apart from my personal liking for her, it’s the very extraordinary life that she lived, and the extraordinary perseverance and strength that she showed in the face of adversity… these are truly remarkable. But of course, you need to see if it makes sense cinematically as well. When I choose to do a film, I see what’s there in it for the audience more than what’s there in it for me. I feel that her journey makes for an exceptionally good screenplay, in terms of cinema and politics blending into each other.”

Madam J.Jayalalithaa was a great dancer & here presenting you the look of #KanganaRanaut as #Jayalalithaa from #Thalaivi with @thearvindswami as #MGR. #DirectorVijay @vishinduri @ShaaileshRSingh @neeta_lulla @rajatsaroraa @gvprakash @madhankarky
Releasing on 26th June pic.twitter.com/XmLkt6WAfw

— Brinda Prasad (@BrindaPrasad1) February 2, 2020

Of course, there have been many challenges, as she details. “The culture is very, very different here. Amma has been a sensational, most loved superstar. When I did my research on here, I found that she was an icon, a style icon. She never did timid characters on screen, she was a trailblazer. To become Amma is an interesting arc, but a difficult arc to achieve,” the actress explained.

The buzz around the movie is very high right now, especially with stills from the movie doing social media rounds. One such still was the recent image of Kangana Ranaut doing a Bharatnatyam pose, portraying the earlier days of the actress turned politician. June 26^th can’t come soon enough!