Kangana Ranaut would be playing Jayalalithaa in her upcoming biopic Thalaivi, to be directed by Vijay. A few reports also suggested the Bollywood actress was going to be paid Rs Twenty Four crore for the project. The speculations were also abuzz that the amount was the highest an Indian actress would have received for a regional film. However, according to a source close to the director has slammed these reports. It looks like she is being paid somewhere around Rs Twelve crore, and Kangana was apparently roped in because the makers believe her presence could help the film reach a pan-Indian audience.

Produced by Vishnu Vardan Induri, Thalaivi was granted the status of an official biopic, and the team has received a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the late Chief Minister’s nephew Deepak Jayakumar.

Dialogues of this film will be penned by Baahubali writer Vijayendra K Prasad, who had written Kangana’a previous film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi.

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Thalaivi’s technical crew includes music director GV Prakash Kumar, lyricist Madhan Karky and cinematographer Nirav Shah. The film, planned as a Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi trilingual, is expected to go on floors from July.

Multiple Jayalalithaa biopics are in the works. The Iron Lady with Nithya Menen playing the lead role has been already announced by Director Priyadarshini, the film will detail her life from 1948 to 2016. On the other hand, a web series on Jaya with Ramya Krishnan playing the titular role has been announced by Gautham Menon recently. Earlier, Bharathirajaa and Lingusamy had announced biopics on the late Chief Minister.

In a statement to the press, director Vijay had said that madam Jayalalithaa was one of the most prominent leaders of our country. Making a film on her life is a huge responsibility, and they are doing it with the utmost care and honesty. He is equally happy and proud to be associated with the very talented Kangana on the project. There are reports that Kangana will be learning Tamil in order to pull off the iconic role.

Thalaivi isn’t the first time Kangana Ranaut is working in a Tamil film. Earlier she played the female lead in Jayam Ravi’s Dhaam Dhoom, which got released in 2008.