Kangana Ranaut will essay the role of actress-turned-politican Jayalalithaa in the upcoming biopic, _Thalaivi_. The make up and prosthetic artist Jason Collins, who worked on Captain Marvel , Hunger Games and Blade Runner 2049, has been roped in to transform Ranaut. Here is the announcement.
#Update: Kangana to work on four looks spanning different ages in #Jayalalitha biopic... Producers Vishnu Induri and Shailesh R Singh rope in #Hollywood makeup expert Jason Collins [#CaptainMarvel, #BladeRunner2049] for Kangana's makeover... Filming to start post #Diwali.
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) September 12, 2019
Director AL Vijay had previously said that the actress was going to gain weight to play the part. Ranaut is also taking Tamil classes and Bharatanatyam lessons in order to sink into Jayalalithaa’s skin with conviction. Thalaivi will be made in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Directed by AL Vijay, the #Jayalalitha biopic - titled #Thalaivi / #Jaya - will be made in #Hindi, #Tamil and #Telugu.
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) September 12, 2019
When asked about the biopic, Ranaut had earlier told Firstpost, “I am honoured to be doing this film. I feel that we do not have a direct relationship with Tamil and Telugu speaking audience, so I would definitely want to have a strong bond all across India. It’s my endeavour to connect with that audience with such an empowered role. She [Jayalalithaa] was a big legend there. Her story is very similar to mine, so I put my biopic on the back-burner.” Ranaut’s last film was _Judgemental Hai Kya_ with Rajkummar Rao. It produced by Ekta Kapoor under her banner Balaji Motion Pictures and directed by Prakash Kovelamudi from a script by Kanika Dhillon. Prior to that, she made her directorial debut with the historical drama, _Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi_ . Her upcoming project includes an action film, _Dhaakad_ and a sports drama helmed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari.