Queen (web series)


Queen is a 2019 Indian historical drama web television series. It is based on the novel of the same name by Anita Sivakumaran, which is loosely based on the life of the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. The series was directed by Gautham Menon and Prasath Murugesan, written by Reshma Ghatala, and produced by Times studio originals and Ondraga Digital. It stars Ramya Krishnan and Indrajith Sukumaran.
The eleven-episode first season was released in its entirety exclusively via MX Player streaming service on December 14, 2019.

Premise

This first season has eleven episodes which depicts the life and evolution of Shakthi Sheshadri. This starts from the childhood days of her and the reason behind her entry into the cinema industry, The way she learned everything in the cinema, The relationship between Shakthi and GMR and finally her political entry.

Cast

Production

Indian online OTT platform, MX Player announced plans of making a web television series about the life of former actress and politician Jayalalithaa and named the character Shakthi Sheshadri, and signed on director Gautham Menon to direct the project in August 2018. The script for the series was written by Reshma Ghatala, while Prasath Murugesan was also signed to direct a few episodes. By December 2018, the makers had silently completed work on a significant portion of the project with Ramya Krishnan cast as Shakthi Sheshadri reel version of J.Jayalalithaa, Indrajith Sukumaran cast as GMR M.G.Ramachandran character and Vamsi Krishna cast as Chaitanya Reddy Shobhan Babu character. Actors Vineeth and Ranjith were also reported to be a part of the cast.
A first look poster was released in early September 2019 depicting Ramya Krishnan's character addressing cadres at a political rally. Following the release of the poster, Jayalaithaa's nephew Deepak Jayakumar threatened to file a defamation case against the makers for showing the personal life of the politician.
In November 2019, Deepa Jayakumar, the niece of Jayalalithaa, filed a suit to restrain the makers from releasing the series. She claimed that Jayalalithaa's family were not consulted about the project and that the series would affect the family's privacy. The Madras High Court subsequently called on the makers to respond to the allegations.

Release

A teaser trailer for the series was released on 1 December 2019 on YouTube. The eleven-episode first season was released in its entirety exclusively via MX Player streaming service on December 14, 2019.