C. Shakeela, known mononymously as Shakeela, is an Indian actress and politician who has predominantly acted in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu language films. She is a member of Indian National Congress.Shakeela debuted in the softcore pornographic film Playgirls (1995) at the age of 18. She became a popular figure in Kerala with the release of Malayalam softcore film Kinnara Thumbikal in 2000. This film would go on to pioneer a new wave of low-budget softcore porn films in the state, with Shakeela starring in many of them. In Kerala's hero-centric mainstream industry of her time, Shakeela's emergence as a liberated woman, who displays her sexuality in defiance of social norms led to what was known as Shakeela tharangam (the wave of Shakeela).

Early life

Shakeela was born in chennai into Urdu and Telugu speaking Muslim family. Her mother was from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. She could not complete her school leaving certificate examination, eventually making her foray into films.

Career

From the beginning of her career, she acted in B movies and softcore pornography. One of her big hits was the 2001 Malayalam film ''Kinnarathumbikal'', which brought her into limelight. Kinnarathumbikal was dubbed in more than six Indian languages and was a major commercial success, grossing ₹4 crore at the box office against a budget of ₹12 lakhs. She did a few controversial topless scenes in her initial movies until she got noticed. Her B movies were dubbed and released in almost all Indian languages. Her films were dubbed into foreign languages like Nepalese, Chinese, and Sinhala. After she acted in several movies, the soft-porn movies in India were colloquially called as "shakeela films". Shakeela hired a body double Surayya Banu to do her topless scenes.Shakeela started appearing in family character roles in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language movies since 2003. She wrote her autobiography in Malayalam, which covered her family, her background, as well as her acquaintance with notable film personalities, politicians and childhood friends.In January 2018, she announced her 250th film as an actor, ''Sheelavathi'', would begin production.

Personal life

In 2002, Shakeela announced that she will no longer act in B grade movies. Shakeela released her autobiography ''Shakeela: Aatmakatha'' in 2013.