Shakeela makers unveil logo, tagline states it’s not about a porn star

Directed by Indrajit Lankesh, the Shakeela biopic will delve into the early life of the ’90s porn star, who dominated the scene in all the four South Indian film industries. Richa Chadha will play her on screen.

Shakeela biopic, starring Richa Chadha in the lead role, is cruising smoothly. After sharing the first look of Richa as Shakeela some time back, the makers have released the logo of the film. It is the tagline that is hard hitting -”Not a Porn Star” - it states. The logo has the name embossed on a black screen with multi-coloured neon lights, but it is the tagline that grabs all the attention.

Richa Chadha will be seen in the titular role in Shakeela biopic.

Undaunted and unabashed, it steers clear of the stereotypical image of Shakeela, who was a top-billed soft porn actor, working in all the four South Indian film industries. The biopic will delve into her life -- her growing up years and her influences. The film is being directed by Kannada director Indrajit Lankesh.

Shakeela saw tremendous success as a ‘90 adult star, so much so that every big star wanted to work with her. The adult film star will be seen in a cameo in her biopic. The director said, besides the cameo, the star was an integral part of the film who gave the team interesting insights — be it her life or in the art direction.

“It was nice shooting her for Shakeela biopic, though I have shot with her before for my another film in 2003. That sparked an interest in me to make a film on her and in 2015 after conceiving the idea of making a film on her I met her and realised my dream,” Lankesh said in a statement.

“I feel every woman and girl who wants to be an actress should see her story, to know what she went through to become an actress and how it was such a compelling rags-to-riches-to-rags story of her life,” he added.

In July this year, two pictures of Richa in character made their way to the Internet. In the picture, we can see Richa, dressed in a traditional Kerala sari, Kasavu Pattu, standing by a pillar in the front courtyard of a house. The lush green foliage around adds to the overall aura of the place.

Newton actor Pankaj Tripathi will play a pivotal role in the Shakeela biopic and has been learning Malayalam to play his role convincingly. Playing the male lead is a Malayalam actor Rajeev Pillai.

(With PTI inputs)

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