Richa Chadha's Shakeela, biopic on South Indian actor, to release in cinemas on Christmas

Shakeela, starring Richa Chadha, is slated to have a theatrical release on Christmas, the makers announced on Monday. The film, directed by Indrajit Lankesh, was scheduled to hit the screens earlier this year. The film delves into the life of the glamorous adult actor, who has worked in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films. Shakeela has also given her  personal insights  into the film in order to make it as authentic as possible. She will also have a cameo in the biopic. The makers made the announcement with the launch of the film’s new poster, which features the Fukrey star draped in a sari, holding a gun. Lankesh 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. Shakeela, which also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Ester Noronha, Sheeva Rana, and Malayalam actor Rajeev Pillai will have a multilingual release. Tripathi will be seen as an over dramatic actor-producer of the 1990s. The film is produced by Sammy Nanwani and Sahil Nanwani via UFO Moviez. The biopic is the third Bollywood film — after Manoj Bajpayee-starrer Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari and Tillotama Shome’s Sir — to have a big screen release after the Centre allowed cinema halls to reopen with safety regulations and 50 percent occupancy under Unlock 5 plan of the coronavirus induced nationwide lockdown. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)