Actress turned politician and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa’s life has always drawn the attention of the filmmakers. Recently, two biopics have been made on the life of Jayalalithaa, who was popularly known as Amma to the members of her party AIADMK.
The two biopics, Queen and Thalaivi, which were released on OTT platforms, received accolades from the audiences. Baahubali fame actress Ramya played the role of Jayalalithaa in 2019 series Queen while Kangana Ranaut portrayed the same in 2021 film Thalaivi.
Queen was made for digital streaming platform MX Player by Gautham Menon and Prasath Murugesan. The story was written by Reshma Ghatala. The web series was based on Anita Sivakumaran’s novel of the same name, which depicted the life of Jayalalithaa. Ramya played the lead character of Shakthi Seshadri, a fictional character resembling the former Tamil Nadu CM, while Anjana Jayaprakash and Anikha Surendran portrayed the younger Jayalalithaa.
Indrajith Sukumaran, Vamsi Krishna, Lillete Dubey among others appeared in prominent roles. The series chronicled the life and evolution of Sheshadri and her journey from cinema industry to politics. The first season has eleven episodes. The series starts from the childhood days of her and the reason behind her entry into the cinema industry and the way she learned everything in the film industry. The relationship between Shakthi and M G Ramachandran has also been portrayed nicely in the series. This series was released in 2019 and later aired on Zee Tamil.
Director AL Vijay has also succeeded in making a biopic story on Jayalalithaa. The film titled Talaivi starred Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut as Jayalalithaa, who was forced to become an actress but later on encouraged by her mentor, MGR joined politics. However, she faced a challenge in the form of a male-dominated political environment. The role of MGR is played by Aravind Swamy in the movie. Bhagyashree, Raj Arjun, Nasser and Samuthirakani played important roles.
Before the release of the movie in September last year, Kangana shared a photo on Instagram. “Two years ago, I embarked on the journey to play one of India’s most iconic women onscreen. There were many obstacles and challenges in our way, but what kept me and my team going was the passion for Jaya Amma and Cinema. This Friday, our film will reach its audiences, do give it a chance in a theatre near you. I am already overwhelmed by the reviews for the film and simply can’t wait for the public to see the film. Advance bookings are now open, book your tickets and enjoy the legendary story of Amma Jayalalithaa on the big screen, ” she wrote.
