In a little over two-and-a-half hours, Ranbir Kapoor has presented to us a capsule on the life of Sanjay Dutt, a man of many parts and shades. Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju has earned accolades and is raking in the moolah. But how easy is it to get into the skin of someone else and make their story and life believable on screen? Especially when the subject of the biopic is very much around? Jaybrota Das takes a look at some stars who decided to take up the challenge  

RANBIR KAPOOR, SANJU

Ranbir Kapoor is seen in six avatars and fans can’t stop gushing about his uncanny resemblance to Sanjay Dutt. For the film, Ranbir underwent a drastic physical transformation to fit the bill. Ranbir said at the teaser launch: “It was really fast, the number of days wasn’t much. I gave myself a month’s break between every phase. I think a year before that we did a lot of prep and screen tests, trying to give Raju sir the confidence that I can look as muscular as Sanjay Dutt.” The actor has a thin frame and it was hard for him to put on the muscles. “I can look like the Sanjay Dutt who comes out of jail or the guy who was doing Munna Bhai, at the same time looking like a young Sanjay in Rocky. That was easy because that’s how I look,” he said. According to a fitness magazine, Ranbir had to add size to his body and that size had to come from muscle mass since Sanjay was pretty muscular during his prime. From a lean 70kg to a beefy 85kg, Ranbir did it in just eight months.

FARHAN AKHTAR, BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG

Composer,  lyricist, singer, director, incredible actor and a sprinter too. That’s Farhan in the Milkha Singh biopic. To play the role of a sprinter, Farhan needed a physique that was lean and yet had ripped muscles. Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra invited two fitness trainers — Samir Jaura and Melwyn Crasto — to help. Samir sculpted Farhan’s body, while Melwyn trained Farhan on the running styles and postures. The film showed Milkha’s life, so Farhan had to play the role of an army cadet as well as the role of Milkha at the peak of his athletic career. There was a vast difference between the physical requirements of both the roles. First, Farhan, who was merely 64kg, had to put on 10kg to get the body for the cadet and then he had to reduce 10kg while preparing for the body of the athlete. Farhan worked out for two hours thrice a day. For a year, he refrained from the good things of life and changed his habits with respect to food, drinks and lifestyle. Farhan’s transformation is an example of his dedication towards the characters he plays.  

PRIYANKA CHOPRA, MARY KOM

Have you ever wondered how a Punjabi altered into a pahadi? Designing for boxer Mary Kom was challenging because it’s a character-driven role and since it’s a biopic, the clothes had to be realistic, Rajat Tangri, the costume stylist, had said. Tangri recreated Kom’s physical form for an actor who was vastly different in build. Priyanka’s workout comprised 12 weeks of high-intensity circuit training. To make the fight scenes look real, director Omung Kumar made sure to place Priyanka opposite real-life boxers. The actress even spent time with Mary at her home in Manipur to pick up the nuances. “I started this film at the hardest point in my life, four days after my father passed away. All my grief, everything, I have shoved into this movie. Every single day of making this movie has been a challenge. I would go home, cry and tell my mother, ‘I don’t think I can do this’ and be back on the sets next day,” Priyanka had said in an interview then.

AAMIR KHAN, DANGAL

Perfectionist he is and shall remain. Once again he showed his dedication to fit into the skin of the character, Mahavir Singh Phogat, by transforming his body. Aamir Khan’s weight gain and loss journey in Dangal is an inspiration for everyone. Dangal, in which Aamir plays a wrestler, was divided into two phases. For one part, Aamir had to put on around 100kg with 38 per cent body fat and then he had to reduce it to nine per cent body fat within five months. In an interview, Aamir had said: “I suggested to the director that I should put on weight first as 80 per cent of the film revolves around my fat avatar. Also, if I shoot those parts later, then I will be left with no motivation to shed the extra kilos.” The journey began. Aamir gorged on brownies to samosas, chocolates, ice creams and cakes everyday. This helped him reach the 100-kg mark from 70kg. Then came the toughest dietary regime: to shed all this flab. “The key was a balanced diet. If you want to lose weight, you should consume less and burn more. I used to consume around 1,500 calories a day but burnt a lot more,” said the actor. Renowned dietitian Nikhil Dhurandhar from London, Rakesh Udiyar, the trainer of actor Salman Khan, and Rahul Bhatt, son of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, helped him in this fat-to-fit journey.