De-aging is the new ‘Astra’ used for Bollywood Superstars to make them look young. Sometimes it works brilliantly, but sometimes we feel like yaar iska ‘button’ band kardo. Astra hai bhai, button toh hoga hi na?
Anyways, let’s discuss some movies where de-aging worked perfectly!
1. Kalki 2898 AD
YES! The movie isn’t out yet, but that single frame bowled everyone over! With the introduction of Amitabh Bachchan as Ashwatthama, the makers teased us with a shot of de-aged look of the Shehenshah as young Ashwatthama from the time of Mahabharat. This is how you create hype and market a film. It was so unexpected and well executed. Can’t wait for the the trailer and future promos.
2. MS Dhoni: The Untold Story
How is everything related to Dhoni always so good? The ads, his aura, his batting and also his biopic. THALA for a reason! There is a brief portion of the movie where we see Sushant Singh Rajput play the younger version of MSD, and it was executed very well according to 2016 standards. One of the best execution of de-aging in one of the best biopics of one of the best cricketers ever!
3. Fan
Hands down the best use of de-aging was done in this Shah Rukh Khan starrer! They convinced us that there were no two SRKs but two different characters played by different people. This movie made everyone a Jabra Fan of Red Chillies and what they have achieved over the years in terms of VFX and Special Effects! The de-aging work in this movie was so flawless that not only here in India, it got acclaim internationally as well. Highly recommend you to watch the VFX Breakdown of Fan which is available for free on Red Chillies Vfx’s YouTube channel.
4. Animal
This is the best example of how conviction shines above everything else! Sab side mai rakho, at the end what matters is how it makes you feel. The de-aging of Ranbir Kapoor in the college scene was far from perfect, despite that, it is one of the most impactful and memorable portion of the entire movie. The close up scene where he is getting slapped looks a bit weird, ‘Dikhaai De Raha Tha, Andha Nahi Tha Koi’, but the audiences were so invested in the storyline that they were ready to forgive the tacky looking de-aging done on Ranbir’s face.
5. Bhool Bulaiyaa 2
The movie surprised everyone with it’s box office success and the double role angle of Tabu. They kept so much under wraps and it worked amazingly well for the film. The de-aging of Tabu or Tabus as you would call it, was done very well. It was the need of the story and also delivered a shock factor. The audience felt like they were watching something new and different! The concept, staging and execution of both- the story and the flashback portion with de-aging added depth and largely benefitted the movie!
6. Jailer
Here, the sheer creative brilliance of Southern Cinema came into picture. They just did not de-age Rajinikanth by using the digital technology, but added extra efforts in making it look realistic. They used extensive makeup and prosthetics on Rajini sir’s face and then de-aged him which made it look even more realistic. Baaki sab toh hamare Rajini sir ka swag hi sambhaal leta hai!
7. Bharat
‘Use it only where necessary’ comes into the picture here. They could have easily used it for the entire movie to make Bhai’s skin appear to be smoother and for him to look young except for the older portions. But they only used it in a particular portion of the movie where it was the demand of the story. Chalo ab zyada nahi bolunga, because aap samajdaar ho aur ‘Itne Bhaari Gyaan Ki Zarurat’ nahi hai.
8. Maidaan
One of the finest acts of Ajay Devgn’s career and one of the best sports film as well. The movie used de-aging whenever it was required and it worked great coupled with Ajay’s outstanding performance. The movie was technically extremely sound as well. Despite all of this, it was saddening to see it fail at the box office.
These were the movies where de-aging was done in the correct way and also worked well. But there are also movies that did not require de-aging at all and even if they did it was not executed properly.
9. Laal Singh Chaddha
The de-aging was done well here, especially on Kareena Kapoor. But the thing which was mentioned earlier was conviction! Aamir Khan’s hammy performance made the de-aging very noticeable and unlikeable. Kareena Kapoor’s was appreciated more by the audience here. If there is a lack of conviction in any of the department, (in this case it was Aamir’s acting) the audience quickly picks it up and then it appears to be jarring.
10. Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan
Naa toh iss movie mai na toh iske de-aging mai tha dum! Vande Mataram!
the de-aging was very much evident especially when Bhaijaan has the clean-shaven look towards the end of the film. It was already a weird film, but Bhai looked more weird at the end as you can clearly notice the difference of skin texture on Salman Khan vs every other character.
11. Dunki
In several moments while watching this movie it felt like Gaurav Kapoor from Fan was acting here instead of SRK. This isn’t a compliment in any way, because in Fan it was the need of the movie and here it was nothing but a gimmick.
We know how SRK looks, we saw him in long hair in Pathaan, we saw him as young Azad and old Vikram Rathore in Jawan and in various public appearances in the same year. So when Hardy came to Laltu, the de-aging felt very forced and unsettling to the eyes.
To conclude, with de-aging the thing is that we see the faces of these actors almost everyday and any slight change in their appearance is quickly picked up by us consciously or subconsciously. So it is extremely important for the makers of any movie to use the technology effectively whenever it is required and with conviction!
Conviction hua toh koi kuch nahi bolega aur nahi hua toh kuch ke alawa sab kuch bolenge.
Also check out – BMCM Quiz – Can You Stop Kabir’s Maha-Pralay Plans?
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