That’s Arvind Swami as MGR in Jayalalithaa biopic, Thalaivi

Arvind Swami playing the role of the late Tamil Nadu CM, MG Ramachandran (MGR), in Vijay’s

Thalaivi

is known to all. The film, a biopic on the late actress and former TN CM, J Jayalalithaa (often referred to as Amma), has Kangana Ranaut playing the lead. On MGR’s birth anniversary, today, the team has come out with this first look of Arvind Swami as

MGR

. Ask Vijay about the look, and he says, “Amma had mentioned in an interview that the two most important people in her life were her mother and MGR. We’ve ensured that we do everything possible to get MGR’s portrayal right on the screen. Arvind Swami has transformed himself completely to fit into the role. He started prepping for this role some three months before we actually began shooting.”

Vijay adds that their intention was never to exactly replicate the real lives of the characters, “We have recreated many of MGR’s and Amma’s memorable moments in the film, but haven’t striven to replicate them. This look of Arvind Swami’s, therefore, is not a recreation of any of MGR’s looks in particular, but the generic appearance of the iconic personality he was between 1965 and 1970. I’d say the character is Arvind Swami’s soul, but MGR’s look.” The team is also releasing a special teaser today, says Vijay, as “our tribute to MGR on his birth anniversary”.