Thaindian News

By Meena Kar
May 17(THAINDIAN NEWS) R&B star Mary J Blige will be playing the role of Nina Simone in the upcoming film ‘Nina’. Legendary artist Nina Simone is known for her jazz-infused music that gave her the title ‘High Priestess of Soul’ from the 50’s to the 70’s. Writer and director of the film, Cynthia Mort has stated that she is about to start working on the biopic that is based on Nina Simone’s autobiography ‘I Put A Spell On You’. Since the announcement back in 2005, Mary J. Blige has been extremely passionate and excited about the role where she will portray Nina Simone.

Mary J. Blige is one of the most successful artists in the R&B industry with 8 multi-platinum albums. She has received various honors including the Grammy and the World Music Legends Award. Her stint with the film industry though is much less. Her last film was in 2009 called ‘I Can Do Bad All By Myself’ where she played a supporting role as Tanya. Critics are skeptical about Mary J. Blige playing Nina Simone because of the glamor associated with Mary J. Blige. Nina Simone was a soul legend who would break out in between a song. She was also a very significant civil rights activist whose songs like ‘Zunga’ and ‘Black Baby’ spoke about her African-American roots.

The main story of the film will be revolving around Nina Simone’s relationship with her assistant Clifton Henderson who will be played by David Oweloyo. The production of the film will be handled by Ealing Studios with a budget of reportedly $10m.