Richa Chadha to play adult star Shakeela in biopic, shares first look

Richa Chadha is playing the titular role of Shakeela in a Hindi biopic on the southern adult star, who ruled the screens for nearly two decades.

Shakeela, the lady who has ruled the soft porn industry down south, is getting a biopic. The first look of the film was shared and it had Bollywood actor Richa Chadha in the lead role.

Richa Chadha as Shakeela in a biopic on the softporn Southern star.

In the picture, we can see Richa, dressed in a traditional Kerala sari, Kasavu Pattu, standing by a pillar in the front court yard of a house. The lush green foliage around adds to the overall aura of the place.

Richa Chadha, who is currently shooting for the film in Karnataka, seen here wearing a traditional Kerala sari.

Speaking about her role, Richa said: “The challenge for the look of the film but also a good one is that the story traces the journey of Shakeela’s younger days to her becoming a popular figure. Thus the looks span over years and years and with each passing time her look changed and thus to show that is challenging but also for me as an actor its gratifying that I get to grow with the real character on celluloid. Shakeela is still a legend and we wish to do complete justice to her when the film is ready.” The film will be directed by Indrajit Lankesh and its shoot has begun in a small town in Karnataka called Tirthahalli.

Shakeela, who has ruled the screen for over two decades now, has done films in all the four south Indian languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. However, she is most popular in Kerala, with her best known work being Kinnarathumbikal. However, the Richa Chadha starrer will be in Hindi.

According to a Times of India report, Malayalam hunk Rajeev Pillai will play her love interest in the film. Confirming the news, the Malayalam actor told TOI, “I will be playing the hero in the film. My character is called Arjun.” The report adds that Richa has met Shakeela to prepare for her role.

Richa, meanwhile, shared a picture of her look from the film on her Instagram page. It didn’t show her face and instead focussed on her hair bedecked with flowers. She captioned it, “Shakeela.”

She also shared a video of the place where the film is being shot. In a 360 degree view of the place, the lush green surroundings and the advancing dark rain clouds make the place look magical. Small wonder she captioned it: “Heaven... Karnataka.”

Her Instagram story said nothing but was a long shot of a village, nestled amid greens all around and coconut trees in the background.

Somewhere in Karnataka -- Richa Chadha shared his picture as her Insta story.

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