Washington, Nov 18 Singer/actress Jennifer Hudson has been roped in to play the lead role in a new film 'Winnie', which is about the former wife of South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela.

The film will be directed by Darrell J. Roodt and the production will begin on May 30 in the South African locations of Johannesburg, Capt Town, and the Transkei and Robben Island where Nelson spent 18 of his 27 years in prison.

The script is based on the Anne Marie du Preez Bezdrob biography "Winnie Mandela:A Life."

While Nelson Mandela is a universally sympathetic figure for his struggle against apartheid, his former wife has been a complicated figure.

She has been depicted as the mother and wife who was a steadfast supporter of her activist husband and who was jailed herself for campaigning for his release and fighting against apartheid.

Her image was subsequently tarnished by association with a bodyguard who murdered a 14-year old alleged informer, and she was later convicted of fraud.

"I was compelled and moved when I read the script," Variety magazine quoted Hudson as saying.

"Winnie Mandela is a complex and extraordinary woman and I'm honoured to be the actress asked to portray her. This is a powerful part of history that should be told," she added. (ANI)