By: Mohnish Singh
On the 73rd birth anniversary of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut took to Twitter to announce the release date of her much-anticipated film Thalaivi, which is a biopic based on the life of the actress-turned-politician who died on December 5, 2016. Directed by A.L. Vijay, Thalaivi will arrive in cinemas on April 23.
While announcing the theatrical release date, Ranaut also shared a brief teaser of the film. “To Jaya Amma, on her birth anniversary. Witness the story of the legend. Thalaivi in cinemas on 23rd April, 2021,” she wrote in the caption.
Thalaivi, written by K. V. Vijayendra Prasad, traces Jayalalithaa’s eventful journey from showbiz to an unprecedented rise in Indian politics. Kangana Ranaut plays a titular role in the film. Joining her on the cast are Arvind Swami, Prakash Raj, Madhoo, and Jisshu Sengupta.
The film was earlier scheduled for a release in 2020 but had to be pushed back due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It will now hit the marquee on April 23, 2021. The biopic will lock horns with Yash Raj Films’ much-awaited comic-caper Bunty Aur Babli 2 which also arrives on the same date.
“It is a Pan-India film and they have decided on summer holidays to capitalise on the family audience. Thalaivi team wants to reap benefits of the vacation period and carry forward a healthy trend at BO in week two thereby getting advantage of the holiday period around labour day,” a trade source says.
Bunty Aur Babli 2, which stars Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan, Siddhant Chaturvedi, and debutante Sharvari Wagh, is set to face tough competition at the box-office. It is going to be interesting to see if any of the two films will move off to a later day.
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