Shakeela is an honest attempt by filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh. He tries to tells the story of much lesser known story of a fallen star. A soft porn star who ruled south India untill a few years ago.
The movie tries to explores the emotional side of Shakeela and her travails. The agony and opposition that she faced from the main stream film industry is captured in the movie.
Sadly not backed by a strong has let down the movie at many places. Still a wonderful performance by Richa Chadha in the title role and strong portrayal by Tripathi does make it interesting.
Shakeela’s life is chronicled from her school days in the movie. Kajol Chugh who plays young Shakeela has lived the character. She oozes right energy.Ā
As her father expires, Shakeela with her mom and others in the family settles down in Cochin. Her mom is a junior artiste in cinema and for the livelihood, Shakeela follows her mom’s foot steps. The rest is all but how Shakeela (Richa Chacha) faces opposition, agony, emotional battle in her life that saw highs and lows.
Both Kajol Chugh and Richa Chadha have done it well.Richa who put on weight has brought out the pain in her eyes. Tripathi as south cine superstar fits the bill well.Ā
The movie has few moments that engrossed you. Her childhood dreams, her encounters in the industry are major plus in the movie.Unlike recent biopic being made, this one treads a different path.Ā
The crew deserves credit for exploring the other side of Shakeela sans steamy scenes. More of emotion and less of action makes it a watchable fare.Ā