Shakeela to play a cameo in her biopic, directed by Indrajit Lankesh

Shakeela, an actor and a former glamour star, will be playing a cameo in her biopic, directed by Indrajit Lankesh. The film has Richa Chadha essaying the titular role. Before commencing the film's shooting, Richa met with Shakeela in Bengaluru to understand the nuances of the character. Seeing the camaraderie between the actors, Indrajit requested the real Shakeela to play a cameo in the film.

"I always wanted to make a film on Shakeela. I was immensely impressed with her on-screen and off-screen personalities. I wanted to portray her story, the hardships and rough phase when she was not getting films and was trying for character roles. I wanted to show the true story behind the superstar Shakeela," says the director.

"Shakeela has been an integral part of the making of the film as she gave the team detailed insights into her life. Even Richa got to spend time with her, understand her style of talking, her body language and such nuances. In fact, when she came on set, she gave us very interesting insights about our art direction, and how her house was and is in real life," Lankesh adds. 

The filmmaker, who has worked with Shakeela for another film in the past, says it was nice shooting with her for her own biopic. "I feel every woman and girl who wants to be an actress should see her story, to know what she went through. It is such a compelling rags to riches to rags story," he says.