Abhishek Shah’s Gujarati movie Hellaro (2019) won the National award for Best Film last year, becoming the first Gujarati film to achieve this. The 13 actresses in the film also won the Special Jury award for their performances.
One of them is actress Niilam Paanchal, who is now all set to make her debut in Marathi cinema, according to a press release sent by her publicist.
Paanchal gave a hint of it a few days back when she posted a video on her official Facebook page where she is trying to speak Marathi.
Speaking about her latest venture, Paanchal said in an official statement, “Yes, I will be starting a Marathi project soon. Being a resident of Mumbai and a follower of Marathi cinema, I can understand the language but can’t speak. But now that I am doing a Marathi project, I have been religiously learning vocal Marathi.”
However, Paanchal isn’t ready to reveal whether the project is a Marathi film, a web-series, or anything else. “Currently we are working on the project," she said. "It is being helmed by a well-known director. As there hasn’t been an official announcement from the makers, I can’t reveal more.”
Paanchal played Leela in Hellaro. Her character had an undercurrent of humour. Currently she is acting in Hindi plays. She has also acted in Hindi television serials like Ishqbaaz (2016–19), Veera (2012–15), Ruk Jaana Nahin (2011–12) and Hamari Devrani (2008–12).
She made her Hindi cinema debut with the Hrithik Roshan-starrer Kaabil (2017) in which she played a supporting character.