Before Sunny Leone and Mia Malkova, there was Shakeela. The actor, who featured primarily in adult films, rivaled the box-office collections of Kerala's superstars Mammootty and Mohanlal, at one point.
Gradually, however, the demand for her films subsided and she was relegated to making cameos in mainstream films. Now, Shakeela is set to return with her own film.
Titled Seelavathi, what the ***k!, the teaser of the Telugu film released on Thursday. Produced by G Studios and directed by Sri Raam Dasari, the teaser suggests that the film will be a supernatural thriller.
We see an ominous bungalow, with the visuals set to spooky music, as Shakeela sits with two children and stares into the camera in an eerie way. The poster of the film shows the actor smoking a cigarette.
Shakeela's first film was Playgirls, in which she played a supporting role. She was in her early 20s at the time and played Silk Smitha's younger sister. Her Malayalam film Kinnarathumbikal, directed by RJ Prasad, became a huge hit and was dubbed in several Indian languages. Seelavathi is reportedly her 250th film.
In an earlier interview, Shakeela has spoken about how she was forced to enter the adult film industry because of family compulsions. Shakeela had six siblings and her parents pushed her to work in cinema to earn money. She has also mentioned that many producers who were on the brink of bankruptcy would plead with her to sign their films so they could be saved. Watch the teaser here: