A public personality may be a lot of things – successful, talented, famous, among other things. But how often do we get to catch a glimpse of their real selves and how they became the people they are now, right? MX Player‘s latest web series, Queen, directed by Gautam Vasudev Menon gives us exactly that. It takes us through what goes on inside the heavily guarded life of a popular female actor who goes on to become the youngest chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The graceful and poised Ramya Krishnan essays the role of Shakthi Sheshadri – an ambitious woman who never truly gets what she always desires in life but ends up getting much more. The series is based on the book of the same name, written by Anita Sivakumaran.
The show is said to be a loosely based narration of the life of the late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalitha. And this is what makes the series even more intriguing. It is largely a peek into the many ups and downs and vulnerabilities that an extremely successful female personality like Shakthi tends to shield from the world.
If you are already not on your way to binge on Queen and just celebrate the heartwarming and courageous tale of the superwoman, that is Shakthi, here are 5 reasons why we think you should!
Anikha Surendran as the young Shakthi
Shakti Sheshadri revisits her life right from the very beginning – where it all started. Her teenage years in her school. Anikha Surendran beautifully takes on that part as an ambitious and diligent head girl of her convent school who dreams of studying to be a lawyer and just getting the love and warmth from her mother, Ranganayaki. I personally loved how just her beautiful eyes were enough to emote what she exactly feels – be it anger, joy, hope or pain.
Ramya Krishnan as the present Shakthi Sheshadri
Ramya Krishnan does a fabulous job in the series as the now wise and experienced political leader of one of the most sought after parties in the state. She is restrained, nuanced and portrays that larger than life persona beautifully, where she still remains an enigma to the outsider. It is when she is confronted by the questions about her innermost sentiments and relationships that we see a streak of her emotionally vulnerable side.
The well-laid-out narrative
The entire series revolves around a now elder Shakthi revisiting her past in, what seems like, an intimate and heartfelt conversation with a television interviewee – Lilette – played beautifully by Lilette Dubey. Her story is laid out through her conversation which provides a logic for the flow of thought and the many instances she looks back on.
The stellar performances by the cast
While Ramya and Anikha are brilliant in the series, the other pivotal characters also give powerful performances. Like Sonia Agarwal, who plays Ranganayagi – Shakthi ‘s mother – who wishes to vicariously live her dream of becoming a successful actress through her daughter. I particularly loved director Gautam’s brief role in the show where he plays Sridhar, young Shakthi’s first-ever director. Jump to her early adulthood, Anjana Jayaprakash plays the part of the now slowly rising female superstar who is in a complex relationship with her co-star and mentor – GMR (Indrajit Sukumaran). An already married man, he seeks to control every bit of her life. There is also a brief period where she experiences love as she bonds with her Telegu film director, Chaitanya Reddy (Vamsi Krishna), which is very sweet.
The grey areas of the pivotal characters
This show shows us on many an instance about how a person can be closest to you and yet end up hurting you anyway. Be it Ranganayaki, Shakthi’s very close friend, Pinky or even the dominating GMR. It shows how her complex relationships with the people closest to her shapes her life – both personally as well as professionally.
Now, doesn’t this seem like one interesting watch? Tune in to watch this compelling series on MX Player!