Makeup artist Sanah Kewal explains how it took two hours every day to create Nawazuddin’s exorcist look in Housefull 4
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; October 24, 2019)

It may only be a cameo appearance, but Nawazuddin Siddiqui is grabbing eyeballs for his Ramsey Baba act in Housefull 4. The recently released song, Bhoot Raja, sees the actor — who plays an exorcist in the ensemble comedy — sport dreadlocks, a long beard and a neckpiece made of fake skulls. Considering the franchise is known for its outlandish humour, makeup and hair artist Sanah Kewal explains that the brief was to lend a quirky look to Siddiqui.

“The makeup for Bhoot Baba was quite a challenge. His look would go through three different changes in the course of the song,” says Kewal, who has been working with the actor for eight years.

After brainstorming over several days, the team designed a look along the lines of Johnny Depp’s avatar in Pirates Of The Caribbean. “There were no real-life references of babas; we aimed for a look that was similar to that of Johnny Depp. So, we gave him dreadlocks that he lets loose in the song. I gave him the smoky eye look, complete with heavy kohl, but skipped the bandana because we didn’t want it to be identical to Depp’s look.”

While zeroing in on the look was easy, Kewal explains that executing it would take two hours every day. “Nawaz gave us the freedom to experiment with the look. He used to close his eyes and trust me completely.”