Hyderabad: Filmmakers create magic on the big screen, but it's the actors who bring their vision to life. By pushing the boundaries of their craft, actors infuse characters written on paper with depth, emotion, and authenticity. Driven by passion, these artistes don't just play roles. Sometimes they give their hearts, sweat, and even a little blood to the job. Some believe acting is about making the audience think you’re living the character. While others go that extra mile, making their performances relatable and authentic - breathing life into the characters they don.
This list here brings to you extraordinary tales of commitment from actors who have transformed their ordinary characters into unforgettable ones. From debutants to seasoned stars, from character actors to superstars, these stories are about how few actors enjoy the process a little more than the others. The insights shared by such actors into building a character speak volumes about their dedication to the craft.
- Living At Cremation Ghat
Vicky Kaushal's journey into the world of acting began with the film Masaan (2015), directed by debutant Neeraj Ghaywan. Vicky portrayed Deepak Kumar, a young man from an oppressed community. His family works at the cremation ghat in Varanasi for a living. For his role, Vicky spent several days at the Manikarnika Ghat, observing the locals and their daily life.
He was completely submerged in the surroundings, seeing bodies burn, as he tried to understand the life of someone whose daily routine is to witness death and still be detached. Reflecting on his experience, Vicky once shared in a social media post about how he would sit at the ghat for hours at a stretch, quietly watching bodies getting burnt one after the other. "Dark, fair, beautiful, ugly, rich, poor, fat, thin. All of them turning into the same colour of ash," penned Vicky in his post from 2019 recalling how he prepped for the role.
- Six-month Starvation Diet
Vikram is known for his versatility and hunger to play people who is far from in real life. Whether it is in a commercial blockbuster or intense, challenging roles in Bala's films like Sethu (1999) and Pithamagan (2003). His commitment to authenticity is well reflected in the lengths he goes to for his characters. For Sethu, Vikram went on a grueling six-month starvation diet, losing 20 kilos and becoming so weak that standing up was a task in itself. That was just the beginning of his intense transformations. For Pithamagan too, Vikram prepared himself by undergoing severe physical and psychological transformations.
For Thangalaan (2024), which according to Vikram is his toughest role so far, the actor underwent six months of intense training and had to endure four to five hours of makeup every day. During promotions of the film, Vikram admitted that the role took a toll on him psychologically rather than physically.
- Chained in a Bathroom and Losing 32 Kilos: This Actor Almost Died for a Role
Randeep Hooda certainly proved his dedication to his craft with his role in Sarbjit (2016) and in Swatantra Veer Savarkar (2024). For Sarbjit, Randeep tried to get into the psych of the character who has lived in jail for more than two decades. Talking about how he got into the skin of Sarbjit, the actor once disclosed, "The first thing I did was stop flushing the toilet. I would switch off the bathroom lights, and I'd chain my hands and feet and lock myself around the shower area. I would spend time there."
His commitment to a project did not stop with Sarbjit. In preparing for his directorial debut, Swatantra Veer Savarkar (2024), Randeep once again had to make a severe physical transformation in order to prepare for the role. He shredded around 32 kilos and lost so much that his body became frail. "I had to be losing [a] kilo a day. It was very tough. I absolutely could have died. I was in such a bad state."
- Surviving on Just Coffee and Carrots for 18-20 Days
Full immersion is what Rajkummar Rao's acting approach is all about. For his role in Trapped, a survival drama, he was on a strict diet to look the part. The actor survived on just coffee and carrots for 18-20 days so as to replicate the conditions of his character: "It was physically and mentally exhausting for me to live in that space for almost 18-20 days, to eat nothing. Trust me, it's scary to hell."
Despite the toll it took on his mind and body, Rajkummar was content in the fact that he had played his character so genuinely: "There were times when there was a blackout. I used to get up and sit quietly for a moment. But that's the fun of being an actor. I feel very lucky to play such parts and work with such filmmakers."
- Almost Lost Eyesight
Attakathi Dinesh played a blind person in Tamil cinema Cuckoo (2014) helmed by Raju Murugan. Preparing for the role had made him keep his gaze fixed in a position throughout the movie, resulting in temporary eyesight loss. Fortunately, his vision improved after medical treatment. Acclaimed filmmaker Pa. Ranjith, a close acquaintance of Dinesh, also spoke at length about the commitment of the artiste in an interview. Dinesh not only traveled with visually impaired individuals but also attended workshops to capture the nuances of blindness. His portrayal of Tamizh, a character defined by specific body language and eye movements, had a lasting impact, influencing his performances in later films as well.
Two years later, Dinesh again picked up a challenging role in Vetrimaaran's Visaranai, an intense film inspired by real-life police lockup torture and encounters. He even wanted to be physically beaten with real sticks to express the agony of his character on screen. Dinesh later admitted that the film emotionally strained him due to the realistic take, as he experienced a very traumatic physical and mental experience during the shooting of the film.
- Staying with Tribes: Learning the Art of Hunting
In Jai Bhim (2021), Manikandan and Lijomol Jose portrayed members of the Irular community. To prep for their roles, they went through an intense 40-day training period where they stayed with the Irular tribe in their village. They learned the community's mannerisms, lifestyle, and survival skills during this time. Their time with the Irulars had a profound impact them as individuals and as artists.
"Every day, it took around two hours just to put on makeup to transform into the characters," Manikandan recalled in an interview. There were several wounds on his body in the film and to get them right it would take even longer, and removing them was another extensive task. The actor further detailed how they were taken for hunting by the tribe and it was tough to match their stamina. "The moment we reached their village, they took us hunting. We would walk for miles, sometimes till night, till dawn. We didn't have their stamina," he said. "They would walk for miles, from Gingee to Kancheepuram, all night long during a hunt." He further elaborated how the Irulars taught them simple survival skills: "They taught us how to catch rats, rabbits, and wild boars, how to cast nets, and set traps."
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