Lupita Nyong'o to portray Ugandan Chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi in Mira Nair's 'Queen of Katwe'
Lupita Nyong'o to portray Ugandan Chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi in Mira Nair's 'Queen of Katwe'Reuters

Be it rocking the red carpet in enamouring gowns or winning the best supporting actress award, Lupita Nyong'o has managed to remain in the lime lights for all the right reasons since winning the Oscar for her role in "12 Years a Slave". Now, with the news of Nyong'o singing up to star in a film directed by director Mira Nair, her fans have more reasons to rejoice.

Indirwire reported that the Kenyan beauty would portray Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi in the film adaptation of the book, "The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster," by Tim Crothers.

The youngest person to ever win the African chess championship, Mutesi grew up in the Ugandan slum of Katwe amidst fear of AIDS, poverty and illiteracy. At 9, Mutesi joined a chess programme run by the Sports Outreach Institute and in 2011, became the three-time Women's Junior Champion of Uganda.

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Her story of determination and perseverance inspired Crothers to the write her biography, which can be purchased on Amazon. Disney, which owns the rights to the book, will be producing the movie directed by Nair.

Nair had voiced her involvement in the same back in August 2013, during an interview with Newsweek where she discussed her upcoming projects. "... Then there's The Queen of Katwe about a chess prodigy, a very young girl in Kampala, being made by Disney."

As Nair handed out the "Glamour Woman of the Year" 2014 award to Nyong'o, she also revealed that the latter would be the lead actress in her next project.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am so proud to welcome my former student and the next star of my next movie, 'Queen of Katwe', glamour woman of the year, Lupita Nyong'o," announced Nair.

Nyong'o, who is considered among the Hollywood A-listers, will be seen in "Non-Stop", a mystery-action film opposite the legendary Liam Neeson in 2014 apart from "The Jungle Book" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", both of which are scheduled to release next year.

A short documentary on the life of the Chess prodigy was posted on Youtube: "The Queen of Katwe - A short Documentary about Phiona Mutesi".