Pankaj Tripathi learns Malayalam, for Shakeela biopic, calls his role colourful

Pankaj Tripathi will play a pivotal role in the Shakeela biopic, which stars Richa Chadha in the lead role.

Pankaj Tripathi is looking forward to play an important role in the biopic of adult actor Shakeela Khan who ruled the south Indian film industry in the 90s. The actor will play a person close to Shakeela Khan, who is portrayed by Richa Chadha, when she was at the peak of her career. Pankaj, who has worked in films likee Kaala, Newton and more is learning Malayalam to play his role convincingly.

Pankaj Tripathi will play a pivotal role in Shakeela biopic.

The actor has decided to learn the nuances of the language and diction by watching Malayalam movies. He will be using basic Malayalam throughout the film. According to a statement from his representative, he is also learning accents by watching popular Malayalam actor’s Hindi films and hopes to learn how to enunciate properly while working on the biopic.

The actor said in a statement, “I’ve watched the original Malayalam film which inspired Billu and many other films. I love Malayalam films. They make them so beautifully and their storytelling skills are brilliant. This role is very new to me; I have never done something like this before. I always try that I don’t copy the caricature. So it’s an original portrayal and I will mould it according to the feedback I receive from the director and the writer. Of course, I will say that it’s a very colourful role. There’s a particular type of body language, a hierarchy to it, a kind of status play as well. So let’s see. I hope the audience likes it as they have liked my other performances so far.”

Pankaj Tripathi was seen in the Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor horror comedy Stree, which is running successfully in theatres. The film has minted Rs 41.97 crore, which is a huge feat for a film such as this.

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