Amitabh Bachchan to Sharvari Wagh: Actors who transformed beyond imagination to fit their roles

Amitabh Bachchan in Kalki 2898 AD looks terrific in a massive transformation for the historic role. Similarly, viewers have been drawn in by Sharvari Wagh’s transition in the 100-crore blockbuster from Munni to the title character Munjya.  Explore the actors and their hedonistic on-screen transformation.

Amitabh Bachchan in Kalki 2898 AD

A unkempt beard, wrinkled skin, woolly eyebrows, and a matted bun served as the basis for Amitabh Bachchan’s portrayal of Ashwatthama. But his black-rimmed, sunken eyes and the bloody indentation on his forehead—a reference to Ashwatthama’s legend—were the most striking features of the makeover.

Sharvari Wagh in Munjya

The duration of Sharvari Wagh’s transformation into Munjya was five hours. Furthermore, Sharvari had to go through this process every day, so it was a significant extenuating commitment. Not only that, but before she turned in for the day, she needed around an hour and a half to remove every prosthetic.

Akshay Kumar in 2.0

As unrecognizable as it gets, Akshay Kumar played Pakshi Rajan in the official sequel to Enthiran (2010), 2.0 (2018), directed by S Shankar and starring Rajinikanth. The actor has called his appearance in the movie a “technological wonder”. A November 2018 IANS report quoted the actor, “It was really a hard process for me to get the prosthetics done. For almost three and a half hours, I had to sit down quietly and do nothing. Three people used to work on my body and I had to stay patient…that was tough. I would say that the whole process of prosthetics made me a much calmer and patient person”.

Rajkummar Rao in Raabta

Raabta (2017), starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon, suffered from a lack of critical acclaim and poor box office performance. Regretfully, this also meant that Rajkummar Rao would never receive any recognition for the devotion it took to grow older every day and become 324 years old.

Amitabh Bachchan in Paa

The actor played 12-year-old Auro Arte in the 2009 R Balki film Paa, who has progeria—an incredibly rare genetic disease. In honor of the movie’s 14th anniversary, the director looked back on their time spent on set, remembering how Amitabh had to transform into Auro every day for four hours in order to be allowed to eat, drink, or even use the restroom.