The intriguing teaser and poster for the much talked about biopic of actor-turned-politician J Jayalalithaa -- Thalaivi -- starring Kangana Ranaut in the lead role, was released on Saturday. In the poster, Kangana Ranaut looks unrecognisable in the makeup of stalwart politician Jayalalithaa as she can be seen posing just like the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
While some have panned the prosthetics that have gone into transforming Kangana into Jayalalithaa, others expressed excitement at the idea of seeing the actress essay the late politician in the upcoming film.
To give leading lady Kangana the perfect look as glamourous politician Jayalalithaa, makers of the biopic roped in Hollywood makeup expert Jason Collins, a master of the make-up art, who has films like 'Captain Marvel' and 'Blade Runner 2049' to his credit. In order to adapt the character well, Kangana was also spotted taking Bharatnatyam classes regularly as she will shoot a grand song for the film with over 100 background dancers.
Talking about the same aspect, Kangana shed light on her transformation process, as she spoke to Mid-Day. "Vijay (producer) wanted me to resemble her as closely as possible. She [Jayalalithaa] endured a drastic physical transformation in her life. Having grown up as a Bharatanatyam dancer, she had an hour-glass figure. Then, when she joined politics, she had an accident which demanded that she be injected with huge doses of steroids. While we could not depict all of that, we did take measures [to resemble her during these phases]," she said.
The Manikarnika actress, earlier shared about struggling to gain weight but for this role she put on 6 kilos. She also revealed that she took mild dose of hormone pills since she is tall and lean but had to put on weight near the belly and thighs, and has also started eating food that promotes weight gain.
'Thalaivi' is being helmed by AL Vijay and has been written by 'Baahubali' and 'Manikarnika' writer KV Vijayendra Prasad and 'The Dirty Picture' and 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbai' writer Rajat Arora. The movie is set to hit theatres on June 26, 2020.
