Thalaivii review – if Margaret Thatcher went to the Rank charm school | Film
The recipient of 2021’s second highest-profile Twitter ban, Kangana Ranaut has channelled her newfound spare time right into a biopic of J Jayalalithaa, Tamil cinema sweetheart turned regional political powerhouse. (Assume The Iron Girl, if Margaret Thatcher had enrolled on the Rank appeal college.) The result’s a hodgepodge of a movie, haphazardly passing an extended, storied life by way of the multiplex cookie-cutter. But it’s additionally semi-fascinating, as a venture solely India’s robustly forgiving star system might now provoke. The true topic typically appears to be Ranaut herself – like Jayalalithaa, a lady whose steely ambition provokes each devotion and ire. “Who the heck are you?” barks an opposition MP earlier than a Congress debate descends right into a literal pile-on.
The trajectory definitely mirrors Ranaut’s personal: effort is made to courtroom film lovers, then issues get fractious. Director AL Vijay lays on a enjoyable recreation of the Sixties Tamil movie enterprise, with its wet-sari numbers and clunky-cute courtships. Throwback scenes have change into a staple, however Vijay levels his with craft and element: the songs are sturdy, and someone has sourced interval undergarments that moulded the feminine torso into comically unnatural shapes. We’re reminded of Ranaut’s onscreen flexibility: adroitly segueing from gamine to stateswoman, she will get fun in passing just by answering her dressing-room door in a blonde wig. But the script approaches politics as a stage-managed dress-up, the place you don a sober sari, and sit again to obtain the plaudits.
Common rallies – a whole lot of extras, clapping to recommend One thing of Import is being conveyed – don’t reveal the politics that will make Thalaivii enlightening. Of their place, we get would-be crowdpleasing stunts: ladling gruel on a chief minister’s desk or hauling herself from a wheelchair to flash peace indicators on a balcony, our heroine appears to desire a standing ovation for all the pieces. Whereas extra nuanced than lots of its star’s latest statements – it might hardly be in any other case – the movie nonetheless appears like a passive-aggressive concept of doubling down. Jayalalithaa will get elevated to excessive workplace, leaving roomfuls of sycophants bowing to her will, and Ranaut wanting like she’s precisely the place she desires to be.
