Kangana Ranaut is excited about her upcoming film Thalaivi, a biopic on late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, and told a leading daily that it is a story that needs to be told. The film was announced on the 71st birth anniversary of Jayalalithaa in February and will be directed by Vijay. Kangana, cast as Jayalalithaa in the film, is excited about her role and spoke at length about the film to the daily.

 “It presented an image of her that was contrary to the one I had in my mind, so I asked for some time to think over the film during which I read up some more on her and was blown away by what I learnt. It’s a story that needs to be told and I am happy to be telling it even though she was the absolute opposite of me,” Kangana told the daily.

Why is Kangana of the opinion that Jayalalithaa’s character is opposite to that of hers? Because, “She was far more docile and refined in her demeanour, more sophisticated in her choice of words and always ladylike no matter what she was going through. But if you tried to run her down, she would always bounce back. She’s risen over every controversy and adversity and I could identify with that spirit though our styles of expression were very different.”

Speaking of the film, Kangana said that Thalaivi will cover Jayalalithaa’s childhood along with her popularity as an actress apart from her political career. “After that it would become a more political film and mean a shift in focus and genre,” Kangana added.

Furthermore, Kangana also praised Jayalalithaa as she said, “She was emotionally dependent on some people, including her mother and MGR (actor-turned-polician), and allowed them to mould her into an actress and politician when she never wanted to be either. When they, and several others she had grown to rely on, left her, alone and vulnerable, she didn’t flounder. She took charge of her life and went on to become a bigger actress and politician. That’s remarkable, unbelievable!”

The film has been titled Thalaivi in Tamil and Jaya in Hindi. It will begin filming October.

Kangana Ranaut was last seen onscreen in Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi while her upcoming releases also include Mental Hai Kya and Panga.

Source: Mumbai Mirror