Kalki Koechlin to play female lead in Dibakar's 'Shanghai'

New Delhi, May 6 (IANS) Lady luck is smiling on Kalki Koechlin. After giving a powerful performance in 'Dev D', the actress has now grabbed another good role in Dibakar Bannerjee's political thriller 'Shanghai'.

Produced by PVR Pictures, the movie is the official Hindi adaptation of Greek novelist Vassilis Vassilikos' political thriller 'Z', about the real-life assassination of a dynamic politician.

The movie has been adapted by Bannerjee and his team to the Indian context and the director says Kalki's role will not be what audiences expect of her.

'Everyone remembers Kalki's 'Dev D' image. But this time around she is going to be very different. In the film, she is a very, very intense and a very, very angry girl who has just come down from her university in America,' Bannerjee said in a statement.

'She is here because of some reason. She is also a woman with a past who is trying to come to terms with her life in this small town where she is not supposed to be at all,' he added.

Kalki, who recently tied the knot with Anurag Kashyap and will be seen in 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' and 'Shaitan', will be seen opposite Emraan Hashmi.

'She hates Emraan's character for trying to rope her - a foreign national - into some kind of a sleazy deal in this small town. It's almost as if they are from two different planets and when that happens anything can happen,' said Bannerjee.

The 'Shanghai' cast also includes Abhay Deol, Farooq Sheikh in a negative role and Bengali movies star Prasenjit.