Pankaj Tripathi to play a south star in Shakeela biopic

Mumbai: Pankaj Tripathi is reuniting with his "Masaan" co-star Richa Chadha in the upcoming biopic on South star Shakeela.

The film is being helmed by acclaimed director, Indrajit Lankesh.

While Richa has already begun shooting for the film, Pankaj will join the team end of August in a location in Karnataka for the shoot. 

Tripathi, who will play the role of a '90s actor in the film, said Shakeela's story is both inspiring and heartbreaking. 

"I am looking forward to essay the role of an actor on screen. It's such an important story to be told as so little is known of her. Everyone has a very bleak idea of Shakeela and who she was. Her story is both heartbreaking yet inspiring. I have already begun the prep and I am looking forward to working with Richa again. They have put together an incredibly talented team," Tripathi told PTI.

The actor, who had a phenomenal 2017 with hits such as "Newton", "Bareilly Ki Barfi" and "Gurgaon", is looking at an equally promising year with releases such as "Stree", "Drive" and Amazon's series "Mirzapur".

Tripathi was most recently seen in critically-acclaimed Netflix original "Sacred Games". 

Elaborating on his role in the biopic, Tripathi said his character is someone who is her friend.

Shakeela is best known for her softcore films in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu, a genre that also produced Silk Smitha, whose life inspired Hindi film "Dirty Picture". 

She is still active in films but she enjoyed major popularity in the '90s and early 2000s.