Simi Garewal reviews Thalaivii: 'Though I don't support Kangana Ranaut's radical comments…'

Actor Simi Garewal was invited to a screening of Thalaivii by actor Kangana Ranaut on Friday. After watching the movie, Simi took to Twitter to share her thoughts. 

Simi said that while she does not support the ‘radical’ comments Kangana often makes, she does think that she was the right fit for the role of former Tamil Nadu chief minister, J Jayalalithaa. “Although I do not support Kangana Ranaut's radical comments, I do support her acting talent. In Thalaivii she gives it her heart and soul! Jaya-ji wanted Aishwarya (Rai) to play her... my hunch is JJ wud have approved of Kangana's portrayal. As for Arvind Swami, he is MGR reincarnate," Simi wrote in her tweet.

Replying to a comment on her tweet, Simi further praised Arvind and shared the one complaint she had with the movie. “You forget he is Arvind Swamy! You believe he REALLY is MGR! But they left out JJ's childhood..I wish they hadn't. It would have had a stronger impact in the story of Jayalalithaa.. but that's only my opinion,” she wrote.

Thalaivii charts the journey of Jayalalithaa from a young actor to a political veteran in Tamil Nadu. Directed by Vijay and written by KV Vijayendra Prasad, Thalaivii also stars Madhoo, Prakash Raj, Jisshu Sengupta, Bhagyashree, and Poorna.

Simi had interviewed Jayalalithaa in 1999 for her chat show Rendezvous with Simi Garewal. On the show, Jayalalithaa said that she wouldn't want a film about her life to be made. However, after Simi prodded her, Jayalalithaa said Aishwarya would be her choice for the role. "I think Aishwarya Rai would be very suitable to play me in my younger days. But then to play me as I am now, or I'm likely to be in the future, I think it would be a little difficult," she had said. 

Also read: Thalaivii movie review: Kangana Ranaut is solid, but the film provides an incomplete look at Jayalalithaa's life

In 1997, Aishwarya had starred in Mani Ratnam's Tamil movie Iruvar, in which she played a role based on the politician. It also starred Mohanlal and Prakash Raj.

Thalaivii released in cinemas on September 10 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages. It was earlier scheduled to release in April but was pushed due to the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.