The film stars Kangana Ranaut as Jayalalithaa, Arvind Swamy as M. G. Ramachandran, Nassar as M. Karunanidhi, Raj Arjun and Samuthirakani as R. M. Veerappan in the Hindi and Tamil versions, respectively.

The movie is produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Shailesh R Singh of Vibri Motion Pictures and Karma Media And Entertainment respectively.

The film also features Nassar, Bhagyashree, Raj Arjun, Madhoo, Thambi Ramaiah, Shamna Kasim and Samuthirakani in supporting roles.

In 1989, Jayalalithaa (nicknamed Jaya), a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly questions the current chief minister, M. Karunanidhi, about the corruption charges, arrests and eavesdropping leveled against her and her party.

Upon realising her mother just wants her to succeed in career and after she is touched by MGR's respect to a crew member hurt on set, Jaya takes a softer stand.

Jaya repeatedly says she touches her hero thinking of him as she hugs her mother, she considers MGR as protector like her father, her brother.

MGR enters politics with his friend Karunanidhi, but his film schedule interferes with his party duties, leading to his ouster.

MGR wins the election to be the Chief Minister again while Jaya is offered a film for playing the character of his elder sister in 1981.

Touched by the condition of girls and other children's education in schools, Jaya highlights the midday meal services under MGR's name by serving him the unhygienic food at his office.

However, she successfully changes the opinion of the crowd, pointing out and is assigned the job of the party's propaganda secretary, and ends up winning in that district.

In a Rajya Sabha session, LK Advani requests the speaker to let Jaya speak about South India's situation.

Boldly speaking on the disregard of South India and the issue of splitting power generated from the Kalpakkam electricity project, an impressed Gandhi allows her in.

Seen as a betrayal, Jaya is expelled from the position of secretary by Veerappan while MGR is flown to the United States for treatment, leading to a dire situation.

Vishnu Vardhan Induri decided to make a film based on the life of AIADMK's former general secretary J. Jayalalithaa, who served six times as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016.

There will be honesty in the biopic, not drama.In August 2018, Vidya Balan was reported to play the lead character when the film initially came to news.

[28] In September 2019, prosthetic specialist Jason Collins, who worked on Captain Marvel (2019), was hired to design Ranaut's looks and it has been reported that she will sport four looks in the film.

[30][31] Ranaut also trained under dance master Gayathri Raghuram to choreograph Bharatanatyam sequences for this film so as to suit for the character.

[43][44] A huge set for a song sequence was erected at a studio in Chennai, and began filming on 1 February 2020, featuring Ranaut in a Bharatanatyam attire.

[46][47] Production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with major portions being filmed, Ranaut stated not to resume shoot as the climax scene requires more than 3000 extras and is to be made on a large scale.

Multiplex chains PVR Cinemas and INOX have expressed their disapproval over this policy and appealed for a uniform four-week window across all the language versions.

[73] Bollywood Hungama critics rounded the review with a score of 3.5 on 5, calling the film overall a well-made and well-written political saga that is embellished with yet another award-winning performance by Kangana Ranaut.

[74] Also, Critic based at The Times of India, Renuka Vyawahare said: "Kangana & Arvind Swamy pay a resounding ode to Jaya-MGR’s poignant love story".

"[75] In her review for The Indian Express, Shubhra Gupta wrote, "For a film that revolves around Kangana Ranaut as J Jayalalithaa, it does give others their due: Arvind Swamy as MGR, Bhagyashree as Jaya’s mother and Nassar as Karunanidhi."

[79] Film critic Deepa Gahlot wrote: "Kangana Ranaut gets the look right, but is unable to completely inhabit the dynamism of the character, which Arvind Swami does with enviable ease in an award-worthy performance.

[82] Monika Kukreja of Hindustan Times stated: "The Kangana Ranaut-starrer is packed with solid performances and an attention to period detail, but is let down by its length and an incomplete-feeling story.

[84] Ambica Sachin of Khaleej Times gave the film a rating of 3/5 praising Ranaut's performance she wrote, "Kangana doesn’t try to mimic the iconic leader but rather delves into the spirit of a woman whose journey from Ammu to Amma, a figure revered and reviled in equal measures by those who knew her, is the stuff of folklore".

[85] Manjusha Radhakrishnan writes for Gulf News, in her review, she noted: "Everything’s on the nose in this film as they depict every situation and twist with no nuance", whereas praised, "Kangana Ranaut and Arvind Swamy shine in this overdramatic political drama".

[86] Mike McCahill of The Guardian summarized: "While more nuanced than many of its star's recent statements - it could hardly be otherwise - the film still feels like a passive-aggressive idea of doubling down."

[105] The producers initially received permission from Jayalalithaa's nephew Deepak Jayakumar in his request to make it as "an honest portrayal of her life".

[106][107] The Madras High Court gave Deepa approval to take legal action against director AL Vijay, film producer Vishnu and Gautham Vasudev Menon who made a web series loosely based on the life Jayalalithaa's life titled Queen which starred Ramya Krishnan essaying the title role.