What makes a movie great? Is it the set, the story or the music? Although all these elements play a big role in making a movie a success, it is the performances of the actors that ultimately decide the fate of the movie. And, to do complete justice to their performance, stars push their limits for the movies and their characters.
For instance, Ranveer Singh who played the role of Sultan Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat recently mentioned that this role gave him wobbly knees and led to a mental breakdown. During the shooting of the Khalbali song he was not able to feel his leg. He would faint, recuperate, vomit and get back to the shoot. Similarly Hollywood vegetarian actor Leonardo DiCaprio for his role as Hugh Glass in The Revenant ate raw bison liver, climbed into the carcass of a horse and waded through a freezing river to toughen himself up against the elements. Dangal star Aamir Khan too is known to be a perfectionist. In Dangal, where he plays wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, Aamir Khan went from 95 kgs to 82 kgs. He did this in three weeks to fit into the role as he played a younger version of the wrestler.
Opining about how innately passionate most actors are, which in turn eggs them on to give nothing less than 100 percent, Sandalwood actor Sunil Raoh says, “Certain roles demand a certain level of physical and mental preparation, sometimes even at a personal cost. I guess it depends on the actor and his commitment. Artistes invest parts of their soul in every piece of work they do. But in the end, to see that effort translated into the screen makes it all worth it. Whether it is worth going above and beyond, there is no doubt that it is always worth it.”
City-based psychologist Shravanthi Venkatesh says, “Since the advent of films, entertaining the audience has been the sole focus of the industry, which is why we have constantly seen an evolution of cinematic styles tweaked according to audiences' tastes. Earlier, films were used to help people disengage from their mundane day-to-day lives, but now the audience needs a connect with whatever they're viewing. They’re in search of empathic experiences.”
Adding how the search is on for real stories, complex characters and intelligent plots where the lines between good and bad are blurred, Shravanthi adds, “This has made new age actors step up their game and get into the skin of a character. They have to mentally, physically and emotionally immerse themselves into a particular role. So much so, that it can cause personality changes. It takes a high amount of control and awareness to be able to discern the fine line between their reel life and real life. For all they desire at the end of the day, is to roll out a performance that will have the viewers awed and absolutely absorbed by an actor's performance.”
