Kangana Ranaut to essay J Jayalalithaa in her biopic titled Jaya

The biopic will be helmed by AL Vijay who mostly works for the Tamil film industry and is known for directing movies like Madrasapattinam and Deiva Thirumagal. The film will be bilingual and will be titled Thalaivi in Tamil and Jaya in Hindi. 

The screenplay will be done by KV Vijayendra Prasad of Baahubali fame. He has also worked with Kangana earlier in Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. The bilingual will be produced by Vibri & Karma Media and Entertainment.

The filmmaker Vijay said, “Jayalalithaa madam was one of the most prominent leaders of our country. Making a film on her life is a big responsibility and we are going to do it with utmost care and honesty. Am proud and happy with our association with one of India’s biggest star and the very talented Kangana Ranaut ji to portray the dynamic role of our very dynamic leader.”

Meanwhile, Kangana said, "Jayalalithaa ji is one of the biggest female success stories of this century. She was a superstar and went on to become an iconic politician... I am honoured to be a part of this mega project,”

There were other actors like Aishwarya Ray Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha in contention too but the filmmakers finally decided to zero down on Kangana. 

Kangana already has her plate full with movies like Panga and Mental Hai Kya. She is currently shooting a promotional video of the Ekta Kapoor film which is slated to release by the end of May.

Jayalalithaa,  starred in 140 films in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada before starting her career in politics. She had a successful stint in politics as went on to became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu six times. 'Amma' for her followers died of a cardiac arrest on December 5, 2016.