Kangana Ranaut's Thalaivi trailer released on her birthday, 23 March. Thalaivi is a biopic on Tamil star and political leader J Jayalalithaa. The trailer shows a turning point in Jayalalithaa's life - the assault on her in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. This is based on a real incident that happened with Jayalalithaa in March 1989.
The AIADMK leader was the first woman leader of the opposition in Tamil Nadu. The opposition was protesting when the Tamil Nadu CM was presenting the budget. Soon a ruckus broke out and Jayalalithaa who was exiting the assembly was allegedly attacked by a DMK minister.
Speaking about the assault later on Simi Garewal's show Rendezvous, Jayalalithaa said: "All his (Karunanidhi's) MLAs and Ministers physically assaulted me. They grabbed at anything they could lay their hands upon - chairs, mics, a heavy brass bell on the speaker's table. If they had succeeded in banging it on my head, I wouldn't be alive today. My MLAs saved me that day and one of them even tried to pull at my saree. They pulled at my hair, in fact they tore out some of my hair. They threw chappals at me, they threw big bundles of papers, heavy books at me. That day I left the assembly in tears, but I was also angry. I made a vow that day. I said I will never set foot in this assembly again as long as this man continues to be the Chief Minister and when I do enter this assembly again, I will enter as Chief Minister. And I fulfilled my vow within two years."
The AIADMK leader took her oath for the first time as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 1991 at the Madras University auditorium.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)