Pankaj Tripathi to play a south Indian actor in Shakeela biopic

Pankaj Tripathi is enjoying a great 2018. The actor opened the year with his big National award win for his performance in Amit Masurkar's Newton (2017). Now, the actor is set to join his Masaan (2015) co-star Richa Chadha in the biopic on actress Shakeela. Tripathi will be playing the role of a South Indian actor who is a close friend and advisor of the yesteryear B-grade movie actress. 

Based on the 1980s Malayalam actress, Shakeela, the film will see Chadha in the titular role and will depict the life of the actress spanning from her young days to becoming a nation wide phenomena as an adult actress in the late 1990's. The film is being helmed by acclaimed director, Indrajit Lankesh.

Speaking of his role in the film, Tripathi said, "I am delighted  to be part of this biopic. It talks about a life of Shakeela that people need to hear and my character is someone who is her friend and also an actor. It is amazing all the stories, anecdotes and incidents that have happened in her life. Glad I could be part of this film." 

The National award winning actor was last seen alongside Chadha in the film Fukrey Returns (2017). The two artistes were also part of Neeraj Ghaywan's Masaan. Tripathi will join the rest of the cast in the August shooting schedule. 

Aside from Tripathi, Malayalam actor Rajeev Pillai will play the love interest of Chadha's character in the film. 

Currently, Tripathi is awaiting the release of Stree, directed by Amar Kaushik.