List of Thalaivii Movie Reviews from various popular critics and news portals. Kindly bookmark this page to check all the reviews which will be updated accordingly.
Star Cast - Kangana Ranaut, Arvind Swami
Director - A.L. Vijay
Release Date - 10 September 2021
Total Reviews - 14
Average Score - 2.95/5
Overall Word of Mouth (Critics) - Mixed to Positive
Overall Word of Mouth (Critics) - Mixed to Positive
1. Taran Adarsh -
Rating Score -> 4/5
Click this link for details#OneWordReview...#THALAIVII: POWERFUL.Rating: ⭐⭐⭐Medium starOne of the most powerful biopics to release on the #Hindi screen… Loads of drama + strong emotions + bravura performances [#KanganaRanaut and #ArvindSwami pitch in award-worthy acts] are major aces. #ThalaiviiReview
2. Times of India -
Rating Score -> 3.5/5
Click this link for detailsAn iconic figure in Indian politics, Jayalalithaa’s political journey is known to most. Director Vijay attempts to unravel her icy cold persona and look at her as a woman passionately driven by love. Make no mistake. A woman’s fight for self respect and battle against patriarchy are integral to the story. However, what lies at the heart of the tale is her unconditional love for MGR.
3. News 18 -
Rating Score -> n/a
Click this link for detailsI have often wondered why film stars exert such an influence over the course of Tamil Nadu politics. Somewhere in the middle of the new, two-and-a-half-hour long, AL Vijay’s Thalaivii- Arvind Swami who portrays Maruthur Gopala Ramachandran popularly known as M.G.R. tells J Jayalalitha played by Kangana Ranaut, “Agar tum janta ko pyaar dogi, toh wo bhi pyaar dega," I get the answer for the demi-god status that actors turned politicians mostly in South India enjoy.
4. Zoom -
Rating Score -> 3/5
Click this link for detailsPerformance-wise, Kangana Ranaut puts in her best to do justice to her character, J Jayalalithaa. The actress showcases stronghold and command as a politician. Actor Arvind Swami's performance as MJR is worth watching on the big screen. Leaving aside the number of songs and the slow pace at which the story unfolds, Thalaivii celebrates womanhood, the undying spirit of J Jayalalithaa, despite the obstacles she faced in her personal and professional life.
5. Hindustan Times -
Rating Score -> n/a
Click this link for detailsThe Kangana Ranaut-starrer is packed with solid performances and an attention to period detail, but is let down by its length and an incomplete-feeling story.
6. India Today -
Rating Score -> 2/5
Click this link for detailsThalaivii could have been a strong biopic with a different actress who knows the language and the politics associated with Tamil Nadu. The film glorified Jayalalithaa and MGR, but never once showed the controversies or the negative aspects in their lives. But then that's what biopics tend to do, right? Thalaivii is a disjointed biopic that acts as a showreel for Kangana Ranaut's version of Jayalalithaa.
7. Zee News -
Rating Score -> 3/5
Click this link for detailsFor Jaya, MGR is her mother, her father, her God, her guru, she says. For MGR, Jaya is both a reminder of his past, his first wife, as well of his future, because of her youth. She is also the student who learnt a little too well from her master. "If you give your people love, they will respond in equal measure," he says. The tragedy of Jayalalithaa was that perhaps that was the most authentic relationship in her life.
8. India -
Rating Score -> 4/5
Click this link for detailsThalaivii surprises you with its story as it cleverly centres the whole politics around the achievement of one woman. Kangana and Arvind are a delight to watch together. This is probably the first time we see her being so comfortable with her male counterpart on-screen. The actor is fabulous in Thalaivii and gives probably the best performance of her career but her chemistry with Arvind is unlike anything that we have seen in any of her films before. There’s both a stoic silence and arrogance of love in their chemistry.
9. The Hindu -
Rating Score -> n/a
Click this link for detailsIt is odd that 3/4th of the film, which claims to be a biopic on Jayalalithaa, is taken over by men where Jaya is sidelined, which in itself is reflective of her private-public life. It is equally odd that the two most stand- out characters, in a film about Jayalalithaa, are MJR and Karuna, played by Arvind Swami and Nasser respectively.
10. NDTV -
Rating Score -> 2/5
Click this link for detailsBollywood biopics, be they hagiographies or hatchet jobs, rarely get their act right. Thalaivi does nothing to change the scenario. It ties itself up in knots in trying to get the hang of six-time Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa's life and times and craft a coherent tale. It hurtles around aimlessly - and futilely - in search of a plank that can hold its weight.
11. Outlook India -
Rating Score -> 2/5
Click this link for detailsAny biopic made in India, with the exception of Attenborough’s 'Gandhi', of course, is bound to disappoint viewers for the sole reason that they may be considered original screenplays, but despite using source material from biographies, memoirs, newspaper and tabloid stories etc. nearly all of them have rarely been faithful adaptations. If truth be told, all of them are hagiographies since the primary focus is to present before the audience a carefully crafted tale that only eulogizes the subject and remains a one-sided view throughout.
12. Rediff -
Rating Score -> 3.5/5
Click this link for detailsThe star of the film is the Thalaivii herself. Kangana keeps you hooked right from the beginning of the film, where she is molested and thrown out of the Tamil Nadu assembly to going to her past as an actress. She moulds herself so well as Jayalalithaa the actress, the chief minister and MGR's lover that you never get the feeling that you are watching the same actress who spews venom on social media in real life.
13. India TV -
Rating Score -> 2.5/5
Click this link for detailsThalaivii promised us to bring a wholesome package fully exploring aspects of her life, making Jaya wholly sympathetic — but Kangana Ranaut (as J Jayalalithaa) and Arvind Swami's (as MG Ramachandran) biopic made it hard to swallow. While the national award-winning actress masterfully managed to bring the first two aspects of J Jayalalithaa's life on screen, the makers of Thalaivii surprisingly missed to show her as the beloved Amma.
14. Khaleej Times -
Rating Score -> 3/5
Click this link for detailsThalaivii is a movie that plays out as a feminist parable of the rise of a strong single woman, who had to fight her way to cult status. The writing by Vijayendra Prasad (Baahubali, Manikarnika) is forceful with many dramatic flairs especially the dialogues where Jaya compares herself to Draupadi from The Mahabharata.
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