Pankaj Tripathi turns into a South superstar in Shakeela: ‘Always wanted to bring out idiosyncrasies of artists on screen’

Pankaj Tripathi will now be seen as a South Indian superstar in one of his upcoming films, Shakeela. Richa Chadha plays the title role in the movie.

Pankaj Tripathi is all set to play a South Indian superstar in his upcoming film, Shakeela. The first look poster shows Pankaj decked up in a red suit, holding a mic in one hand and a trophy in another as if captured at a film awards event.

Pankaj Tripathi plays an actor in Shakeela.

Pankaj says his role is that of a “colourful” character in the film. He said, “I am thrilled that our little labour of love Shakeela is all set to release in theatres this Christmas. I am so excited about the film because I have worked with the very talented friend Richa Chadha in this film. I have a beautiful part in the film. I play an actor for the first time in my career. I have always wanted to play an actor on screen and bring out the idiosyncrasies of artists on screen. It’s an interesting and colourful character.”

Directed by Indrajit Lankesh, the Shakeela biopic feat ures Richa Chadha in the titular role. She plays the role of the adult actor who was one of the biggest stars of the 1990s from Kerala and acted in several adult films in languages spanning Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. The film is set to release this Christmas on December 25 across cinemas in India in multiple languages. Shakeela also stars Malayalam actor Rajeev Pillai and is produced by Sammy Nanwani and Sahil Nanwani.

Lankesh has said Shakeela has been his passion project after the actor’s rags-to-riches story caught his attention. “I did some extensive personal interviews with her and came to know so much about the person that she is behind that image of a star. And I knew that it is only Richa who can nail the part.”

“This film will help youngsters who aspire to be part of the film industry understand that there is more to the overlying glitz and glamour,” the director said in a statement.

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