Wanted Jaya's magic to be authentic, says Kangana Ranaut on recreating four iconic songs for Thalaivii

Kangana Ranaut and Arvind Swami are set to recreate four iconic songs of the legendary on-screen pair of J Jayalalithaa and MG Ramachandran in the romantic Thalaivii (2021) number 'Teri Aankhon Mein'.

Paying tribute to the innumerable blockbusters of the legendary Southern stars, the makers of Thalaivii have recreated four iconic songs featuring the duo — 'Kannae Kaniyae' and 'Enna Porutham' from Rasiya Police 115 (1968), 'Ninathathai Nadathiyae' from Nam Naadu (1969) and 'Ninathen Vanthai' from Kaavalkaaran (1967).

A teaser for the song was released on Friday, while the song will be released tomorrow.

Talking about the number, Ranaut, who plays Jayalalithaa in the biopic, said, "Jaya Amma’s songs are significant because they are part of pop culture. This song is an amalgamation of those tracks. Jaya Ma and MGR gave 60 to 70 songs together. They worked together for decades, but we had to crack it in the span of four days. In a day, I would go through several looks and hairstyles. The two forces of Tamil cinema created fireworks on screen, and I wanted that magic to be authentic."

Jayalalithaa and MGR worked together in 28 hit films from 1965 to 1973.

Ranaut had to gain 20 kilos to portray Jayalalithaa in the latter part of her life, when she became a politician and chief minister of Tamil Nadu, following in her mentor MGR's footsteps.

Revealing the experience of shooting for the song while gearing up for the latter part of the film, Ranaut added, "In her younger days, Jaya Amma had an hourglass body. But we were on the brink of shooting the second hour of the film. My director took it upon himself to make sure I was well-fed. His mother’s homemade meals came in three tiffins."

Directed by Vijay, Thalaivii is set to be released in theatres worldwide in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on 10 September.