Kangana Ranaut is headlining a biopic on late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Directed by Vijay, the film was initially titled Jaya in Hindi and Thalaivi in Tamil and Telugu. However, on Kangana's request, the makers have agreed to use the title Thalaivi across all regions. 

A source close to the development said, "Director Vijay and the team had refrained from using Thalaivi as the title since they felt that the word would alienate audiences beyond the South. However, Kangana recently had a word with the makers and pointed out that Bollywood films have often had titles that may not be necessarily Hindi, but have stayed true to the film's milieu.” Kangana thus asked the makers to retain the title and suggested that a tagline such as 'Jayalalithaa' or 'Jaya' be used to confirm the film's subject.

The Jayalalithaa biopic will go on floors in October. Kangana is prepping to shoot a grand retro dancer number with 100 background dancers for the film.