Kangana Ranaut has reportedly charged Rs 24 crore for her upcoming project ‘Thalaivi’, a biopic on late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
The 32-year-old actress is on her way to become the highest paid female actor of India.
A source close to the project said: “Kangana is being paid to the tune of Rs 24 crore for the bilingual project, which will be made in Hindi and Tamil. The makers are sure that her star power will help reach a pan-India audience. The producers have already signed a contract with her”.
Titled ‘Thalaivi’ in Tamil and ‘Jaya’ in Hindi, the film will be directed by Vijay and written by K.V. Vijayendra Prasad.
Sharing her feelings of being a part of ‘Jaya’, Kangana said: "I always wanted to work in regional films because when we go to Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh, we realise that people over there only watch films made by their local film industry. So there is a disconnect with that part of the country. I was waiting for a good opportunity to work over there and this film just came my way.
"I was working on my own biopic, but her (Jayalalithaa) story is very similar to my story. In fact, it is a bigger success story than mine. When I heard the narration of this film, I found many similarities between both the stories. So when I had the option to do a film based on her story or my story, I decided on the former."
She was asked whether she will learn Tamil for the film, she said: "Yes...Unless I fail miserably and they (the makers of the film) have to look for an option for my dubbing. But I will definitely learn the language."
Written by K.V. Vijayendra Prasad of ‘Baahubali’ and ‘Manikarnika’ fame, the film will be produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Shaailesh R. Singh under the banner of Vibri and Karma Media and Entertainment.