Bollywood actors work in biopics of sports men

Who would have imagined Emraan Hashmi as former Indian cricket skipper Mohammed Azharuddin?  Looking at the first teaser of Azhar, based on the cricketer, Emraan seems to have morphed into Azharuddin. Emraan is the latest entrant to the list of actors, not resembling the person they are portraying in a biopic. However, be it Vidya Balan as Silk Smitha, Priyanka Chopra as Mary Kom or even Farhan Akhtar as Milkha Singh; they have done it exceedingly well.

How do actors who have no physical resemblance to the person they will be portraying, start looking like their twin?  Director Omung Kumar, who directed Mary Kom, says, you select an actor based on their ability to portray that character, with complete dedication to the project. He/she has to be a chameleon to mould into the role. “Mary Kom is short and Priyanka is tall. So when we chose Priyanka, I faced a lot of flak.” But Omung’s choice paid off, because Priyanka’s dedication to the project was reflected on-screen.

Just like Priyanka, Emraan Hashmi too has worked very hard to morph into an Azhar look-alike. “I am walking, talking and behaving like Azhar 24x7 and will do so until the shoot is over,” confesses Emraan. The actor is practicing playing cricket for nearly five hours every day and the legend is at hand to train him.  “At first, I couldn’t even connect the bat with the ball,” reveals the actor who has worked very hard to ape Azhar’s footwork on field and also hold the bat like the former captain did and twist it around like him.

Emraan took up yoga to make his body, especially his arm more flexible to get the batsmen’s twist right.

So more than just going for looks, you need to zoom in on talent. Producer Tanuj Garg says, “Being in a biopic comes with a lot of responsibility and actors are willing to go through the intensive training and workshops. They also need to observe the person’s behaviour, body language...”

This is why Sushant Singh Rajput decided to follow M.S. Dhoni around during the IPL, so that he could see how the Indian captain does things — both on and off the field.

Looking like another person is easy as filmmaker Vikram Bhatt explains, “Modern prosthetics and computer graphics can make you look exactly like the person, if you want.”

But more than the actor, it is the story that plays a crucial part in making the film a hit, says Ajit Andhare, Viacom 18 COO, who has produced biopics like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Mary Kom. “You need to first sort out the story’s script, the rights and only then does the actor come in.”