‘Prosthetics were done for a 61-year-old to look 61’
Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; December 19, 2022)

Actor Suniel Shetty still has all the swag, spark and style! And fans got to witness the same in Dharavi Bank, the actor’s recently released gangster drama series, which also marked his web debut. The 61-year-old made it loud and clear that age is indeed just a number. “Age has got nothing to do with anything. I have the best work of my life happening now, and that is because I have accepted my age. I say it openly: I am 61. My daughter (actor) Athiya keeps saying, ‘Why do you talk about your age?’ To which I say, ‘Maybe because I am that age!’ Then she counters, ‘You don’t look 61!’ and I reply, ‘That doesn’t matter,” shares Shetty.

The actor further informs us that, in fact, for his most recent project, prosthetics were required to make him appear older: “My son (actor) Ahaan told me, ‘Papa, do you realise they had to do that to make you appear older for your character?’ That was a really nice point. Probably for the first time in history, people had done prosthetics for a 61-year-old man to look 61.”

Ask him what kind of changes he has been witnessing since it’s a bit of a different world now with Gen Z, OTT and social media, considering he has been here for several decades now, and Shetty elaborates: “What was exciting for me in Dharavi was that it was a 22-year-old who wrote the dialogues, which one would expect stalwarts like Rajat Aroraa to write. Then, it was a 23-year-old who did the makeup. Probably, if I were one of the superstars, I’d have asked for the best art directors and prosthetics from Hollywood. But I was on the back foot and said they are young and will work hard. [It is nice that] these kids are getting opportunities.”