First look of Nithya Menon as J Jayalalithaa

On Wednesday, the second death anniversary of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, the first look poster of The Iron Lady, a biopic of the late AIADMK leader, was unveiled. The movie, directed by A Priyadhaarshini, will feature Nithya Menen in the titular role. The film's tagline reads 'India's Margaret Thatcher'.

Going by the poster, Menon looks strikingly similar to Jayalalithaa from the 1980s, the time she began her political career.

Priyadhaarshini will be making her directorial debut with this film, which will be a multi-lingual biopic tracing Jayalalithaa's journey from a film star to chief minister of Tamil Nadu to her eventual demise on December 5, 2016. It's expected to go on floors on February 24, Jayalalithaa's birth anniversary.

"For the last four months, we were discussing and working on the making of a film on Jayalalithaa, who is still alive in the hearts of millions. We are proud of this venture and consider it our duty and tribute to a lady who lived an exceptional life," Priyadhaarshini said.

This is, however, not the only biopic planned on the life of Jayalalithaa. Two other films, helmed by Bharathiraja and AL Vijay respectively, were also announced in recent times.

Hyderabad-based production house Vibri Media announced that director AL Vijay of Madrasapattinam fame would helm the former project, which would star lead actors from Bollywood and south India.

Furthermore, in December 2017, Adithya Bharadwaj, producer of Y-star Cine and Television Pvt Ltd had announced that another biopic on Jayalalithaa titled Thaai: Puratchi Thalaivi would be directed by veteran filmmaker Bharathiraja.