NE ENTERTAINMENT BUREAU
Roja fame Bollywood actress Madhoo Shah will be playing the role of Janaki Ramachandran, wife of late actor-politician Puratchi Thalaivar MG Ramachandran (MGR) in Thalaivi, based on the life of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Puratchi Thalaivi J Jayalalithaa.
The upcoming film will see Kangana Ranaut essaying the role of yesteryear actress and former politician, fondly known as Amma. Arvind Swamy plays MGR in the film.
Madhoo Shah revealed that she has never met Janaki Amma, but have met Jayalalithaa who had given her the State Award for her film Roja.
“When I went on the stage, she had said that she liked my performance in Roja,” Madhoo added. Talking about the film, the actress said that Thalaivi director AM Vijay has done extensive research for the film and this is helping all the characters.
She further said that the director has recorded a video that showed all the nuances required to play the role of Janaki Amma.
“Before shooting, he (AM Vijay) showed us the video and asked me to reprise the character according to it. I have been following his directions to play my part efficiently.” Madhoo added.
She further revealed that Vijay has the clips recorded on his mobile phone.
Madhoo said that she has already started shooting for her part in the film. The sequence showing Janaki Amma walking towards the body of MGR after his death has been shot.
The actress said whenever she needs to essay her, she’d watch old clips of Janaki Amma and tries to ace her mannerisms. According to the actor, Janaki was a very subtle, yet emotional person.
She said it takes a lot of effort to replicate a person in real life because each person has a different way of walking, talking, sitting, and these minute details are the ones that matter the most.
Thalaivi will first release in movie theatres before being released on over-the-top (OTT) platforms. The film is produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Shaailesh R Singh.
Earlier this week, Ranaut shared pictures from the sets of Thalaivi after she completed the shooting of a schedule.
