Frames per Second: Supermoms and supervillains

Kangana Ranaut-starrer 'Thalaivii' traces the rise of Jayalalithaa from an ingenue to a powerful politician

In the final scene of ‘Thalaivii’ (2021), the recent biopic of former Tamil Nadu chief minister (CM) J Jayalalithaa, we find the protagonist in her office with all her Cabinet ministers standing in front of her. She invites them to sit, but they deferentially refuse. She invites them again, but they refuse a second time. Jaya, played by Kangana Ranaut, then asks the orderlies to remove the chairs. In one broad stroke, she has converted the CM’s office into her personal court. “Remember this,” she tells the men, “if you think of me as your mother then you will have