Stepping into the skin of character sans makeup

Divya Dutta

It was while being glued on to a web series that I realized what binge watching meant. What intrigued me was how the female lead was sans makeup, no efforts to take the usual cinematic liberty to glamourize herself or look stunning. On the contrary she looked like any other regular woman, and hence very relatable.

It got me thinking, how come she wasn’t insecure about her looks? And totally into how the character should have looked. —absolutely real. No masks. We have grown up on movies where actresses have been over decked-up, over glamourized. They wake up in full makeup with lipsticks intact. They have had teary eyed scenes with not a drop of mascara going awry.

Yes, earlier too, we did have more naturally made up actresses but they were given the label of art house cinema. But in mainstream cinema the actresses were expected to dress up larger than life, to be a fantasy rather than a reality. What, of course, changed was the stories and storytelling. But what also changed big time was the audience. They wanted to see reality; they now wanted to see relatable stories which probably were sliced from their own life.

 Whereas it’s lovely to see a heroine who looks stunning, the audience has opened its arms to the ordinary. They no more like songs pictured in the picturesque Alps, heroines in chiffon sarees freezing and yet romancing in the snow. There are one or two exceptions but more often than not, now is the time for background songs and not the earlier dance numbers with hundreds of dancers dancing unrealistically.

 I was watching the web-series and my aunt came in. She’s a fabulous actor, she remarked. I was smiling. It was the same aunt who used to comment on heroines’ looks first. But now her focus was on the role and the performance...yes times have changed.

I remember for my forthcoming film, Ramsingh Charlie, National Award winning director Nitin Kakkad asked me to come on the sets with no makeup on at all. I was apprehensive and I used a touch of foundation for my under eyes. He saw me and said, “No makeup my dear, go wash your face.”

I felt insecure and unsure. How would it look on camera? But once I was in front of the camera, I forgot how I looked. All I knew was it felt right. That character needed to look like that.

When I saw the rushes, I was amazed. I looked so different, fresh and so real! But what mattered most was when the crew said, ‘Ma’am you looked the role.’ I guess they said it! Looking the role is the new magic mantra now. Gone are the days of kilos of makeup! Thank God! Oo! Thank you audience!

(Dutta is a Bollywood actor)