I have acquired a clear vision of my path: The Iron Lady director Priyadarshini

Priyadarshini, one of the three directors who is in the race to make a biopic on the life of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa, has issued a statement about her film The Iron Lady and its actual status.

In a statement that was addressed to both the media and film enthusiasts, she said, “I have been getting a lot of questions about the status of the movie The Iron Lady. I’m duty bound to answer your queries as the director of the film. While you may already know some of the facts discussed here, I place them before you again to comprehensively answer all the questions I have been asked recently.

“The film The Iron Lady spans over six decades covering the entire life story of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Selvi J. Jayalalithaa.”

Stating that Nithya Menen was to play the lead role of Jayalalithaa, she said,”After carefully listing out the different aspects that the role demands, Nithya Menen was shortlisted. From sharing similar facial features to emanating a graceful and charming personality, Nithya Menen naturally embodies many personality traits that Amma herself exhibited.”

Pointing out that Nithya Menen could speak six languages fluently just the way Jayalalaithaa could, the director claimed that she, like Jayalalaithaa, also trained in Bharathnatyam and vocal carnatic music during her childhood.

Claiming that biopic was a challenging genre as it had scope to cater to expectations of larger audience groups, the director said the script of a biopic demanded a lot of effort and careful planning as it would have to must fulfill several criteria.

She further said, “To have a proper reach, a biopic must be critically acclaimed, objective in its standpoint while representing multiple points of view and should also be a commercial success. Sir Richard Attenborough spent 18 years to shape the biopic Gandhi. I strongly believe that such devout preparations and well planned execution is the need of the hour when it comes to directing a biopic.”

Priyaadarshini said that there was a huge responsibility that lay ahead of her as she would have to “meet all of these quality demands.”

She claimed that she had “acquired a clear vision of my path and have gained more strength and courage by studying, research and travelling along with the characters of this film and make the impossible, possible.”

In the statement, which is seen as an effort to answer questions posed by J Deepa, the niece of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, who has now filed a petition in the Madras High Court urging it to restrain the release of biopics of her aunt, the director claimed that her film, The Iron Lady, consists of many technical departments operating synchronously towards exploring “our creative potential and at the same time refrain (from) misrepresenting that real facts.”