Maniesh Paul has done a variety of roles in his career, many of which required him to gain and lose weight, or learn different accents. Recently, he shared an Instagram post that showed him getting transformed into a white-haired old man with the use of prosthetics. These photos were taken when Paul was getting into a character for Rafuchakkar, a 2023 web series. In the comedy heist show, Paul switched between five very different appearances throughout nine episodes.
Even though prosthetics are no longer uncommon in the film and TV industry, their use remains taxing. The prosthetic artists have to spend several hours mastering the look. The person who is getting the look has to stay still while the make-up is being done and later spend hours till the shoot is wrapped up. In his post’s caption, Paul mentioned the hardships of working under prosthetics and wrote, “This used to take 4.5 hours of make up time!!! Painful…too much gum on the face..itchy…but it was worth it…this was another character I played for my web series Rafuchakkar.”
In the comments, many people lauded Paul for his dedication and hard work towards the role. Some people commented that the prosthetic makeup made him look like veteran actors Piyush Mishra and Anupam Kher.
Before the release of Rafuchakkar, the writers and producers of the show, Arjun Singgh Baran and Kartik Nishandar, told Film Companion that Paul gained and lost over 20 kilograms to prepare for his lead role in the web series. They also commented on his elaborate prosthetic look and wrote, “Despite being claustrophobic, he wore heavy prosthetics in intense heat. He even learned the local dialect of each city where the characters were located for the sake of authenticity. He loves challenges and pushes his boundaries to mold himself into a new person each time.”
In Bollywood one of the first successful films that utilized prosthetic make-up was Avvai Shanmugi in 1996 and its Hindi remake Chachi 420. In these films, actor Kamal Hassan transformed into an elderly woman for a significant part of the film. Hassann’s prosthetic make-up was managed by K M Sarathkumar and Oscar-winning prosthetics expert Michael Westmore, best known for his work in Star Trek productions. In 2009, R Balki’s Paa showed Amitabh Bachchan as a progeria patient, a rare disease that causes rapid ageing in kids, once again bringing the magic of prosthetics into the limelight.
