New Delhi, Sept 20 (UNI) Known for playing lovable characters onscreen, Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor will be now seen essaying a grey character in Apoorva Lakhia's 'Haseena Parkar'. Shraddha, who has undergone a transformation from a girl next door, that she has played in many of her films, to the sister of gangster Dawood Ibrahim Haseena Parkar, says it is a true and emotional story which shows all the traits of Haseena and what she had gone through in her life. Shraddha, who was present in the national capital to promote her upcoming movie along with the cast, that includes her brother Siddhanth Kapoor (who plays her reel-life brother and don Dawood Ibrahim) , Ankur Bhatia and director Apoorva , said,"This is the first time I am playing a drastically different character from the ones I have essayed till now.' Shraddha says she loved the story of the film which is the main reason she agreed to do it. 'I loved the story as it was a true story and that's why I wanted to be a part of this film. It was a challengeing role for me to portay what Haseena ji has gone through in her life. It is an emotional story though I was playing a grey shaded character. Its a biopic which shows the life of Haseena Parker from the age of 17 to 40 years and the audience will come to see all the qualities of Haseena Parker and what all she had gone through in her life," the 'Aashiqui 2' actress said. Talking about the preparation she did for getting into the skin of the character, the 'Ok Jaanu' actress said,"Unfortunately, I could not meet Haseena ji in real as she passed away in 2014. Our director had met her, and did a lot of research work on her for around two years and that worked as an encyclopedia for us and helped us for the preparation.' 'Apoorva's research helped us to know how Haseena was, what was her personality, her likes and dislikes etc. As part of the preparation, I gained 7-8 kilos of weight. Also, I am playing the role of a mother for the first time. For this I watched videos regarding pregnancy and how a woman feels during that time, because it's a milestone for a woman to become a mother. All this helped me to experience and understand what loss Haseena had suffered," the 'Baaghi' actress said. When asked what made him choose to make a film on Haseena, director Apoorva Lakhia said,"the story of Haseena's life is very interesting. What she has gone through in her life because of the certain things her brother has done, I found that very interesting. Actually I was about to make a film on Dawood Ibrahim. But when I met Haseena ji and she told me about her life, the tragedies that happened and what she had gone through in her personal life made me more interested. And that's how I made a movie on her.' "I had also interacted with the Mumbai Police to get their side of Parkar's story, thus ensuring the authenticity of the film," he said. On the film's release date clashing with Sanjay Dutt's comeback film "Bhoomi", Apoorva said he would love to collaborate with the superstar again. "I would definitely love to work with Sanjay again. He has been a part of three of my projects. When he got out from the prison, we were already in the middle of 'Haseena'. So let's see what happens with the next script," he said. Presented by Swiss Entertainment, the film is slated to release on September 22. UNI PY/AR SV SB 1300