‘One reaction since the first look trial was that of shock’
People are going absolutely gaga over how actor Lara Dutta Bhupathi has transformed into late politician Indira Gandhi for the upcoming thriller BellBottom. And major credit for it goes to makeup expert Vikram Gaikwad. Calling it a “humongous responsibility”, the three-time National Film Award-winning makeup artiste says, “The result you see is the outcome of a very thorough process. I read the script, then the casting and direction team informed us that Lara is going to perform as Indira Gandhi.” Thus began the challenge, as Gaikwad felt that there’s no likeness between their faces. “However, Lara is a brilliant actor, so I had to do my best to deliver the look,” he explains, adding, “We’ve changed the style and shape of Lara’s eyebrows and done prosthetics on her nose.”
Two-three trials were done before the shooting began, and each makeup session took three hours. And the end result “shocked everyone” to say the least, according to Gaikwad. “There’s one reaction that kept coming since the beginning, and that was of shock. The most important thing is that Lara, Akshay (Kumar), Ranjit (Tiwari; director) and Jackky (Bhagnani; producer) trusted me and my team,” he adds.
While people were stunned with Dutta’s look, hair stylist Sapna Bhavnani tweeted her disappointment: “Such a bad wig though, can see the lining. But of course, you wouldn’t as you’re not a hair person...” Point this out and Gaikwad says it is not “worth commenting”.