Mumbai, April 26 (IANS): Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor, who will be seen playing Saina Nehwal in an upcoming biopic directed by Amole Gupte, says she is really honoured to essay the role of the Indian badminton star in the film.

Shraddha on Wednesday took to Twitter to make the announcement. 

"Saina Nehwal -- The former World number one badminton player. An Indian girl. An inspiration to millions. A youth icon in the truest sense," Shraddha tweeted. 

The actress says Nehwal's "journey to the top has been fascinating".

"I am honoured to be given this opportunity to play her in my next film 'Saina'," she added. 

The actress, who is currently promoting her forthcoming film "Half Girlfriend", says preparing for the film will be very challenging for her.

"The preparation for this film is going to be very, very challenging. It's probably going to be my most difficult film till date," she said.

"'Saina' is going to be directed by Amole Gupte and produced by T-Series," she added.

Shraddha is also prepping for another biopic titled "Haseena: The Queen of Mumbai" in which she plays underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's sister Haseena Parkar. Shraddha's brother Siddhanth Kapoor will play the notorious gangster Dawood Ibrahim in the biopic.

It is said that Sonakshi Sinha was earlier finalised to play Haseena but the actress reportedly walked out due to date issues.

Last seen on the screen in Shaad Ali's "Ok Jaanu", a remake of Mani Ratnam's "Ok Kanmani", Shraddha will be seen next in "Half Girlfriend", directed by Mohit Suri.