Home > Magazine > Bollywood Buzz > MOVIE REVIEW: Thalaivii (Matriarch, Revolutionary Leader)

MOVIE REVIEW: Thalaivii (Matriarch, Revolutionary Leader)

By Gitanjali Chak

November 2021

Thalaivii (Matriarch, Revolutionary Leader)

Starring: Kangana Ranaut, Arvind Swamy, Bhagyashree

Director: A.L. Vijay

Music Directors: G.V. Prakash Kumar

There is no doubt that the late actor-turned-politician Jayalalithaa’s tumultuous life seems made for celluloid drama and Kangana Ranaut surely is the high priestess of drama. After Panga, the actress delivers yet another outstanding performance in Thalaivii, playing a woman who loved fearlessly and fought against odds to write her own destiny in Tamil Nadu politics.

Though entertaining, the movie is far from perfect—it is too long, the screenplay is drab, and editing shoddy at times. But the performances elevate it from mediocrity. Besides Kangana Ranaut that the film belongs to, there is Arvind Swamy who absolutely nails it as the charismatic MGR, the wind beneath Jaya’s wings. Raj Arjun in the role of a man who cannot stand Jaya’s proximity to his leader does absolute justice to his character.

The women, though—Madhoo as MGR’S wife, Bhagyashree as Jayalalithaa’s mother (nice to see her after so many years), and Poorna as Jaya’s aide Sasikala—are wasted.

Though the political aspect feels half-baked and one-sided, it’s the Jaya-MGR love story, a relationship without labels, which actually stays with you.

(Thalaivii, which released in theaters, is now streaming on Netflix)

TOP 10 SONGS