When Stars De-Glam

Like any other movie industry, Bollywood is obsessed with glamour. The fraternity strives to make the sets, the celebrities, their costumes and every aspect of the movies beautiful. Each movie is bigger and brighter, but there are movie makers and artists who swim against the tide to mould the look and feel of the character to a more gritty story. The priority is not glamour, in this case, but character.

BollyCurry has put together a list of some of the artists who have bravely taken on realistic unglamorous looks and let their talent take centre-stage.

This beauty queen portrayed the role of autistic girl Jhilmil in Barfi! (2012) and proved that she is a force to be reckoned with, putting aside the glamour quotient for the sake of the character. Assuaging the director's fears that the audience would see the star Priyanka Chopra and not the character on the screen, Chopra herself contributed to the look, with plain makeup and short hair meant to reflect the simplicity of Jhilmil, and her difficulty in looking after herself. The dedication and conviction was all that was needed, and the twinkle in the character's eye touched the audience's hearts more than any stunning costumes ever could.

The chameleon of Bollywood who can get into the skin of any character, Hooda delivered another stunning performance in the titular role in Sarabjit (2016). For the physical transformation of the character to be convincing, Hooda lost weight drastically within a short period of time. The actor even followed a zero calorie diet for a while to achieve a skeletal look in order to accurately portray the hardships Sarbjit might have faced in the torturous situations he was in. Hooda's lifeless and haggard look added authenticity to the movie like glamour never could.

Kangana Ranaut chose to hide her signature curly locks and went absolutely de-glam in Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015). She wore an unflattering wig and dentures to get into the skin of the character Datto, an athlete from a small village in Haryana. Her acting and diction was spot on, and her performance was greatly aided by the toned down look of the character, with the wardrobe limited to track suits and simple shirts paired with lehenga skirts for most parts of the movie. It also helped Ranaut to pull off a difficult double role performance, since her other role retained the usual glamorous look of a Bollywood heroine. Her efforts were rewarded when she won her second National Film Award for Best Actress for the movie.

The superstar went back to his anti-hero roots to play the role of a simple Delhi lad Gaurav in Fan (2016). The brains of an international make-up artiste and the magic of VFX went into crafting the look for this role - a 25 year old version of Shah Rukh Khan. The prosthetics and a layman's wardrobe helped put the final touches to this polar opposite of Khan's other role in the movie, a superstar with the posture, clothes and hairstyle obviously inspired from King Khan's real life look. 

Alia Bhatt has by far generated more buzz than any of her much senior co-stars in the upcoming Udta Punjab. This can be attributed to the strikingly de-glam and rustic avatar of the Bihari migrant worker, Kumari Pinky, she plays in this movie. The muted colours of the muddied long kurta and skirt from the song "Ik Kudi" is miles away from her look in other movies. The bubbly and chirpy persona of most of her roles seem to have been left far behind and if the promos are any proof, this 'student' will ace the test when the movie is released.

Writer: Aishwarya S.