Amidst lockdown, every shoot is ceased; Box office is on a pause. 5th phase is introduced with continuation of shutting of multiplexes and cinema halls, films that were meant for a big-screen release are diverting to streaming or OTT platform release. Kangana Ranaut starrer, Thalaivi would also take a same path. However, it was all set to have a big-screen release on June 26 but outbreak of pandemic has put a break on it. In this movie, Kangana is essaying the role of Jayalalitha, the leader of political power in Tamil Nadu. The film is a biopic of the political leader who singlehandedly ruled over Tamil Nadu for quite some time.
Reports suggest that Kangana’s film might release on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Several movies including Gulaabo Sitaabo, Ghoomketu also took the same route. The stills and Kangana’s looks that depicted the political legend Jayalalitha have increased the anticipation of the movie.
Moreover, Kangana feels that her movie ‘Thalaivi’ must have a proper Box Office release. She feels that the film deserves more than an OTT. According to a Pinkvilla, Kangana stated, “A film like ‘Thalaivi’ just can’t release on digital because it is such a massive scale film, neither a movie like ‘Manikarnika’ is a digital space film. But yes, films like ‘Panga’, ‘Judgementall Hai Kya’ also caters to that audience. The way the film is made, it is very digital-friendly. They have recovered huge costs through digital itself.”
Kangana’s revealed that her film Thalaivi was bought by Netflix as well as Amazon Prime. The bilingual film was sold the OTT platforms for a whopping ₹55 Cr.
Thalaivi was initially scheduled to release on June 26 in three languages — Tamil, Telugu and Hindi but had to be postponed due to the lockdown. The movie has been directed by Vijay and produced by Vishnu Induri and Shaailesh R Singh.
First look poster… Kangana Ranaut in #Jayalalitha biopic… Titled #Thalaivi… Directed by Vijay… Produced by Vishnu Induri and Shaailesh R Singh… 26 June 2020 release. #ThalaiviFirstLook pic.twitter.com/WIoJTOxM45
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) November 23, 2019