The makers of Thalaivi unveiled new stills of Arvind Swami as former Tamil Nadu chief minister MG Ramachandran on the actor-turned-politician's death anniversary on Thursday. In the loving memory of the late chief minister, Arvind Swami shared new look posters of himself as MGR and wrote: 'It was not just an honour to play the role of Puratchi Thalaivar MGR, but a great responsibility. I thank director AL Vijay and producers Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Shaailesh R Singh for having faith in me. I humbly post these pics in Thalaivar's memory, today. #Thalaivi #MGR #ArvindSwamiasMGR.'
Thalaivi, directed by AL Vijay, is based on the story of the life of former chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa and Kangana Ranaut plays the lead role in it. MGR was a very important person in the life and career of Jayalalithaa but more on that later.
Talking about Thalaivi, producer Shaailesh R Singh said, 'It was overwhelming to witness the warm response to the earlier looks of the film, whether for Kangana Ranaut's portrayal as Jayalalithaa or our first look of MGR by Arvind Swami. With every accolade, our responsibility to deliver better and live up to audience’s expectations has been increasing. We have been extremely diligent about the details. We hope the audience continues to shower their love on the film.'
Thalaivi has music by GV Prakash Kumar while Bajrangi Bhaijaan fame writer Vijayendra Prasad has been roped in to oversee the writing process.
MG Ramachandran was a mentor figure to Jayalalithaa. The actor-turned-politician formed the political party AIADMK, after quitting the DMK in 1972 and came back to power in Tamil Nadu in 1977. He was the chief minister of the state for ten consecutive years until his death on December 24, 1987.
Earlier this year, Kangana Ranaut unveiled the first look of herself as Jayalalithaa and later shared several updates of her forthcoming film. The film will release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.