The die-hard fans of Dr Shiva Rajkumar can't wait to witness the magic of de-ageing technology in his upcoming venture — 'Ghost'.
Digitally de-aged Dr Shiva Rajkumar in 'Ghost'. (X)
Ageing is practically irreversible in real life, but in reel life, it is altogether a different scenario these days. All thanks to advanced de-ageing technology, your favourite actor can look at his younger self on the silver screen.
To make an actor — normally in his 50s and 60s — look in his 20s and 30s from his actual age is now a matter of just a click of a button!
Usually, de-ageing in movies is being used to showcase an actor in his past as a young adult and rarely otherwise. Also, it is barely used in the case of female actors.
Though not a new concept, it is being implemented, probably for the first time in the Kannada film industry.
The die-hard fans of Dr Shivarajkumar can’t wait to witness the magic of the de-aging technology in his upcoming venture — Ghost which is hitting the screens on 19 October.
To unravel the de-ageing technology, one must go back into the past where it all started. Also, let’s find out if it served the purpose or if it was just another gimmick to draw the audience to the theatres.
A poster of ‘Ghost’. (X)
The world of cinema heavily relies on fiction. Filmmakers across the globe bring their stories to life on screen through imagination and works of art.
Films are set in different timelines and periods and sometimes in an imaginary world called the multiverse in tech language.
Before computer technology made its way into movie making, make-up artists and other technicians — who handled lighting, cinematography and other departments — showcased their sheer talents to make an actor look young or older to some extent, though not entirely convincing.
In the case of a character who needed to be showcased in his/her younger days, the filmmakers would cast a child actor. Also, makeup tricks were used to make a character look aged beyond his/her present age.
However, only actors with profound acting skills could convince the audience during such transformations.
Insofar as dual roles are concerned, it was done through technical adjustment. It was a near-impossible task to make the same actor look perfectly young without the audience noticing the difference.
Even before de-ageing technology backed by Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) and Visual Effects (VFX) made its entry into movies, various techniques were used to transform actors.
The earliest example of one such attempt was by American cinematographer Karl Struss who used red makeup on actors in Ben-Hur (1925).
Once the filter on the camera was removed, the patches were revealed to make the actor look old. But it was effective only in black and white.
However, the first-ever case of de-aging technology was used in the Hollywood film X-Men: The Last Standing (2006).
Since then, there have been numerous such applications of the technology including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).
In fact, de-ageing, in short, is a special effect process to make an actor look younger through CGI touch-ups or overlay of an actor’s images from his younger days onto the actor.
Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Ra.One’ used the de-ageing technology too. (X)
On records (officially), the de-ageing technology in Indian movies made its debut with Shah Rukh Khan’s ambitious project Ra.One (2011). The technology was used to make SRK look like his younger self, portraying G.One as a video game character.
Thereafter, he attempted it in Fan (2016). Nevertheless, both films failed to make a greater impact and remained an attempt with no success at the box office.
Thereafter, Salman Khan’s Bharat (2019) and Aamir Khan’s Lal Singh Chaddha (2022) also adopted the technology.
In Kollywood, the de-ageing buzz emerged with Kamal Haasan’s Vikram (2022). But director Lokesh Kanagaraj called it off due to poor quality.
Even the Telugu film Acharya (2022) starring megastar Chiranjeevi had him in the younger self in a flashback scene.
Meanwhile, film experts claim that de-ageing is far more prevalent but unofficially.
“A lot of star heroes want to look younger on screens and they go under the ‘digital knife’. Official de-ageing work is one thing where the age of the actor portraying the younger version of the character is shown by half or more his real age,” said a Kannada director.
He added that a lot of CGI work is done to make an actor look fit and handsome. “Have you ever wondered how an actor looks forever young only on screen or one might ask if they found the fountain of youth!”
All the films that have officially used the de-ageing technology have failed to make any impact at the box office in India, pointed out another filmmaker who does not want to be named.
“It might be because of the poor quality of work or an unnecessary element added in the script as a gimmick to attract the audience. Fans might be happy but if it doesn’t serve the purpose, the same gets subjected to heavy trolling on social media” he observed.
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