Jayalalithaa Biopic: Madras High Court Issues Notice To Filmmakers

After the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's niece J Deepa moved the Madras High Court requesting a stay on the biopics of Jayalalithaa, the Madras High Court has issued notices to director Gautham Vasudev Menon and AL Vijay.

Justice K Kalyanasundaram sought the response of Gautham Menon and AL Vijay after viewing J Deepa's application. When the justice was informed that they have already filed a caveat, he ordered that they be served the case papers by Deepa. He also posted the matter to November 12 for further hearing.

Deepa submitted a plea stating that she was a legal heir of the late AIADMK supremo, and had sought to issue a restraining order on the filmmakers from going ahead with their projects without her consent. She also mentioned that the filmmakers do not have any legal rights, power or authority to produce movies based on the life of Jayalalithaa.

In her application, Deepa further added that she is a family member of Jayalalithaa and that she was associated with the late leader during the important events of her life. Deepa also stated that the filmmakers might have their own versions of the leader and their narration might affect the late leader's privacy.

Titled 'Thalaivi' in Tamil and 'Jaya' in Hindi, the biopic that is being directed by AL Vijay, has Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut playing the role of the late Chief Minister. One more biopic on the late leader, which has Nithya Menen playing the lead role titled 'The Iron Lady', is being directed by Priyadarshini. Gautham Menon is also directing a web series based on the life of Jayalalithaa titled 'Queen'. Queen has Ramya Krishnan playing the role of the late AIADMK leader. It was earlier reported that actor Aravind Swamy would be playing the role of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran in Thalaivi.