Directed by A. L. Vijay
Written by K. V. Vijayendra Prasad, Madhan Karky (Tamil), Rajat Arora (Hindi)
Produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri, Shailesh R Singh, Brinda Prasad
Starring : Kangana Ranaut, Arvind Swami
Cinematography : Vishal Vittal
Edited by Anthony, Ballu Saluja
Music by G. V. Prakash Kumar
Distributed by Zee Studios
Release date :10 September 2021
Running time : 153 minutes
Country: India
Languages :Tamil,Hindi,Telugu
Kangana Ranaut said that Thalaivi is her biggest project to date. The film has been delayed and is now out on the big screens. Read our review to find out if the film has any juice in it or not.
Plot
Jaya(Kangana Ranaut) gets to act with the legendary MGR(Arvind Swamy) in her first film itself. Because of this, love blossoms between the two, but MGR enters politics and ignores Jaya. But in a turnaround of events, he invites Jaya into his party. The twist in the tale arises when MGR passes away and Jaya is left alone. How will Jaya manage such a big party and how she eventually became the CM of Tamil Nadu is the basic crux of Thalaivi.
Performances
Thalaivi truly and completely belongs to Arvind Swamy. He as MGR is just impeccable. His look, costume, voice modulation, and body langue are too good and remind us instantly of the legendary actor. His charisma and screen presence steals the show from others. Nasser and Samuktirakani are also amazing in their key roles.
But Kangana is the one who leaves things alone and grabs the show in the second half. She is superb in all the male-dominated scenes and kills it with her emotional expressions. The grit which she showcases is also pretty impressive and Kangana gives an award-winning performance.
Analysis
Thalaivi also has good moments in the first half. The screenplay takes the cake and chronicles the love angle between Jaya and MGR in a beautiful manner. The second half is where the drama gets intense and the manner in which the political issues are sorted by Jaya is shown in a beautiful manner.
On the technical front, the makeup for Kangana when she portrays a chubby Jaya is weird and looks funny in many scenes. The dubbing done is also crazy and does not create much impact. But the other aspects like production design and costumes are very good,
Thalaivi chronicles the journey of Jaya and MGR in politics and both the stories are handled with proper balance. Though the connection of Jaya with Telugu movies and big stars like Shoban Babu are ignored, the film has enough meat to savor. Give it a shot and you will not be disappointed.
Bottom Line – Neatly made biopic of Jayalalitha
