Filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh discusses the aspects of actor Shakeela’s life, which he has made into a film
Kannada filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh’s upcoming film, a biopic on actor Shakeela bearing the same name, is having a theatrical release on December 25 in five languages, including Tamil. Starring Richa Chadha in the titular role, alongside Pankaj Tripathi, the film tracks the rise and fall of an actor who gained the status of a controversial personality for appearing in ‘B-grade’ films, before she made the transition to mainstream cinema by playing bit part character roles.
Edited excerpts from an interview with Indrajit Lankesh:
Priyanka Roy | | Published 23.12.20, 04:27 AM
Last Friday, Richa Chadha had an OTT offering in the five-in-one anthology film Unpaused (that’s opened to primarily positive reviews) and this Friday, the actor is gearing up for the theatrical release of
Shakeela, in which she plays the real-life south Indian actress who acted in a slew of B-grade and soft-porn films, starting from the mid-’90s. Directed by Indrajit Lankesh,
Shakeela also stars Pankaj Tripathi. We caught up with Richa for a chat on the process of embracing the body and soul of Shakeela and her lookback at 2020.
What are the emotions of having a theatrical release in a year where we have had almost no films playing in theatres?
Shakeela song: Richa Chadha shows off her belly dancing moves in Taaza mid-day.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mid-day.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Richa Chadha on the appeal of playing an adult star like Shakeela
Enacting a woman who was adored and condemned in equal measures was fascinating, says the actress
She was an adult star who brought an entire film industry to its knees. Rumour has it that even the reigning superstars of the time were running scared of her draw over the box office. Such was her sultry mass appeal that they refused to release their movie opposite hers. Shakeela was an icon down South in the 90s and now the rags-to-riches story of the young girl from an impoverished family who turned to C-grade movies to make a living is being brought to the big screen this weekend by Richa Chadha.
The powerhouse of talent Richa Chadha is currently gearing up for the release of her forthcoming film,
Shakeela, which also casts Pankaj Tripathi in the lead role. In the film, Richa plays the role of popular adult star Shakeela, who garnered fame in the Malayalam film industry in the 90s. The film, which is being helmed by Indrajit Lankesh, will be released in five languages- Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
When the trailer of the film was released on YouTube, many netizens claimed that it reminded them of Vidya Balan s
The Dirty Picture, wherein she played the character of Silk Smitha. Needless to mention, Vidya gave her best performance in