“Thalaivii” by A.L.Vijay

The movie Thalaivii is a 2021 release. The film is directed by A. L. Vijay.  The film is based on the book Thalaivi written by Ajayan Bala. The movie is produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri, Shailesh R Singh and Brinda Prasad. The film has Kangana Ranaut and Arvind Swami in the lead roles. The film is edited by Anthony and Ballu Saluja and cinematography by Vishal Vittal.

There is much that outshines the film. The screenplay, cinematography, editing and acting. The eminent use of prosthetic make-up in making Jaya is tremendous. There is nothing to be said about the story as the story is a book in itself. Multiple scenes all edited eminently to bring the picture alive is worth admiring. Noteworthy is the film in Hindi. It has Hindi as the language but with south Indian accent. This detailing in the language keeps the originality of the film, as where the story is located and the origin of the characters portrayed. The use of props like MGR’s Black glasses or Jaya’s bindi brings uniqueness and reality to the characters. The body language depicted of a teen to a women to Thalaivii is worth appreciating. The story starts in a flashback, with a milestone event in the life of the lead protagonist. The story continues in flashback to the first flashback shown. The story captures a flashback after another. And when both the flashbacks reunite there is a fast forward before catching the current event. The use of a frame within a frame to show a film shoot is excellent. The casting has be done very diligently keeping in mind the plot of the story.  The syntax of dialogues is synchronized from one scene to the other keeping in mind the synchronicity of the story. The accurate use of costume to the real and the change in the costumes with the changing events in the life of the protagonist is worth appreciating. There are very few sub-plots as the story begins and ends on screen with Jaya. Use of actual sound tracks and new sound tracks in Hindi is beautifully demarcated and recognizable. There are just few prominent characters revolving around the lead protagonist, like Jaya’s mother, MGR, MGR’s wife, RNV and Madhavan. A meticulous casting of the other characters has been done keeping in mind the location and plot of the story with peculiar illustrations to the year and the fashion trends followed during that time. It is a diligent crafting of art to the best possible. The editing plays a major role in story telling as the parallel editing of similar scenes in jump cuts like that of the election speech between Jaya and the opponent party leader placed elegantly to make the story telling precise. The other hero in the making of Thalaivii is the perfection done in the makeup, not just of the two lead characters Jaya and MGR but of the other characters as well keeping great care on the time scale of the film. Over all it is the story, the make-up, editing and the cinematography that makes the film worth watching and appreciating.

Work cited

Vijay. A.L (Director). Thalaivii (Film). 2021. Zee Studios; Vibri Motion Pictures, Karma Media and Entertainment, Gothic Entertainment, Sprint Films. Netflix.

Wikipedia contributors. “Thalaivii.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 7 Nov. 2021. Web. 7 Nov. 2021.