The Jayalalitha biopic, directed by A.L. Vijay, has received a No Objection Certificate from her nephew Deepak Jayakumar, and is officially recognized as her authorised biography. The film has also been titled Thalaivi. The producers unveiled the first look poster on her birth anniversary.
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
The director issued a statement in which he said Baahubali writer Vijayendra Prasad will oversee the script. The film is planned as a trilingual – Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi.
A report in TOI quotes the director, “We’ve locked the final draft, and are now working on finalising the cast and technicians. While Vijayendra Prasad sir came on board a few months ago, we’ve roped in cinematographer Nirav Shah, GV Prakash and Selva master as well. The film will sketch the life of one of the most wonderful leaders.”
Thalaivi will have G.V. Prakash as the music composer and Nirav Shah as the cinematographer. Madhan Karky serves as the lyricist on the project. Other cast and crew details will be announced shortly, the director said. The movie will be produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri.
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Almost four versions of Jayalaitha’s biopics are in the works, the latest one being Gautham Vasudev Menon’s – a teleseries. Director Priyadarshini has already announced The Iron Lady, with Nithya Menon playing the titular role. The movie, already in the final stages of its pre-production, will go on floors this month and will detail her life from 1948 to 2016. The makers even said that they had approached Varalaxmi Sarathkumar to essay the role Jayalalitha’s confidante V.K. Sasikala. Speaking to Silverscreen, Priyadarshini said “Yes we approached her (Varalaxmi) for the role of VK Sasikala, but we did not hear back from her. We still are not sure about her joining the film.”
There have been reports that Sai Pallavi was approached by the makers of Thalaivi for the same role. They have also been considering Vidya Balan for the titular character.
Biopics on politicians seem to be the flavour of the season, as already three films have released this year. While Bollywood witnessed the release of Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Thackeray, YSR biopic Yatra and NTR biopic Kathanayakudu released in Telugu. Ram Gopal Varma will soon release his version of NTR’s story by the name of Lakshmi’s NTR.