Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; April 21, 2017)

Everyone's talking about rumoured lovebirds, Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon’s sizzling chemistry in the recently released trailer of Raabta, but barely anyone would have pondered over the mystery man, who surfaces in the end. He’s an ageing, bald, tattooed man who raises his arm as if to bring the events to a halt.

We were amazed to discover it’s Rajkummar Rao, who looks completely unrecognisable in this avatar. He has a brief, but crucial role in Dinesh Vijan’s upcoming romantic drama and his part had been kept under wraps, until now.

Director Vijan, producer Homi Adajania and Rajkumar sat down with the creative team for weeks to lock the final look. Apparently, he was put through 16 look tests before the team agreed on this one. Rajkummar, we hear, plays a 324-year-old human in the love story that cuts across centuries. And the makers could only think of the talented actor to pull it off.

Says Rajkummar, “I did this friendly appearance for Dinoo (Vijan) and Homi. It was too much fun. Dinoo gave me a lot of freedom as an actor. The prosthetic make-up would take hours to put on and take off. I sweat profusely under a thick layer of make-up. It needed quite a bit of patience.”

A special professional team from LA, which has worked with Zuby Johal of The Dirty Hands and done prosthetics for several Bollywood films, was brought on board. Besides his look, his body posture and voice modulation was also worked on. Adds Vijan, “The idea of prosthetics making him look totally unrecognisable excited him. He was kind enough me to do me a favour. Though tedious, he sat through it.”