In a hospital room, layers of bandage are slowly being unwrapped from one half of Pallavi’s face. Her father and sister, watching the uncovered face, are jolted for a moment. Pallavi, watching herself in the mirror, sees one side of the face red and scarred and knows it is forever. She doesn’t scream, she looks too weak to even cry out loud, it’s just tiny little sobs that come out as she grabs her dad for support.
You knew there’d be a scene like this in Uyare, when it was announced that Parvathy Thiruvothu would play an acid attack survivor. But even with the knowledge, that scene grips you, makes you forget for a moment that it is not real. Zuby Johal and Rajiv Subba try their best to make you forget.
Prosthetic artists working in Bengaluru, Zuby and Rajiv have been in the industry for over 10 years. The two run the Dirty Hands Studio in Bengaluru, and are post graduates of ceramic and glass design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. They made silicon mannequins at a time when no one else in the country was doing it. Bollywood work came right on cue.
Zuby and Rajiv
“We have been doing this since 2008, and have worked in 33 Bollywood movies, beginning from Gangs of Wasseypur 1 and 2. But this is our first Malayalam movie. Director Manu (Ashokan) spotted us somewhere,” Zuby says.
She was a little skeptical at first, for communication can be very difficult if you don't know the language. But Sherga, one of the producers, communicated very well, Zuby says, and the director too was on board.
The process has been long. High resolution images of Parvathy were photoshopped, stage by stage and sent back and forth between the make-up artistes and the filmmaker. “So we can see if what we visualised and what they visualised are the same,” Zuby explains.
And then there is the transformation of the character. It wouldn’t be the same look that Pallavi has one month after the acid attack. She would look different every month, and so there were multiple looks planned. “The director had told us she is not from a very rich family and so would not have the money for a plastic surgery. So we had to make it look like she is healing naturally.”
Zuby and Rajiv met acid attack survivors, heard their stories, talked to them about their transformation. Pallavi was not going to look exactly like a real life survivor. They had to find a midway to make it as real as possible. And Parvathy made it easier for them by sitting patiently for three to four hours for the make-up to set.
“Parvathy was the one who would communicate between the director and me. I’d watch her give inputs. When an actor is so helpful, our job becomes easier. I would any day do another movie with her,” Zuby says.
She hasn’t been able to watch Uyare yet, it was only going to release outside Kerala at the time of the interview. And she has already got work lined up for a Tamil film and 10 Bollywood movies. Busy two, Zuby and Rajiv are, and you don’t wonder why.