‘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”.
Over the past few years, Sonnalli Seygall has worked with multiple NGOS dedicated towards animal welfare and rescue. On World Elephant Day, today, the actor hopes that laws related to animal cruelty become more stringent so that perpetrators don’t escape easily.
“I have personally called out culprits and taken them to the police. But they have all gotten away by paying a fine of just ₹50. It’s heartbreaking! Even if anyone tries to bring about a change, they aren’t paid heed to because human cruelty assumes greater importance. But I consider animal and human cruelty at par,” Seygall, 32, shares.
Last month, a 60-year-old blind elephant, named Nina, who was abused in Uttar Pradesh, created headlines. Following the incident, a few Bollywood actors came together in support of a petition to prevent abuse against blind elephants. Talking about it, Seygall says,
“One of my friends from the industry said that unless there’s uproar, nothing will change. And that’s a sad fact. Do we really need celebrity influence for justice? But maybe that’s the only way to draw attention of the public”.
A year back, a pregnant elephant was brutally killed in Kerala, after eating a pineapple stuffed with crackers. The Jai Mummy Di (2020) actor asserts that increased urbanisation is also a reason for such incidents: “Many people felt that it wasn’t a big deal because it happened by accident. But we have to be more careful.
When we encourage such barbaric acts, we give culprits the licence to commit bigger crimes in the future.”
Seygall is confident that one effective solution to this would be introducing curriculums on animal cruelty at school level. “If young children are taught about the consequences of animal cruelty, the cases of abuse against animals might reduce. It will also make them more compassionate human beings,” she concludes on a hopeful note.