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Kangana Ranaut's sister and spokesperson Rangoli Chandel has slammed critics who have been ridiculing the actor's first look as the late Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, whom she will play in an upcoming biopic titled Thalaivi.
The teaser of the film was released online last weekend attracting widespread criticism for Kangana's appearance.
Rangoli took to Twitter to respond to the barrage of memes and comments about Kangana's look and wrote: "Anyone who has got eyes can see the brilliance of the prosthetic work, baki samosa gang is there jo din ko raat aur raat ko din kehte hain (who say day is night and night is day), they are inconsequential."
One Twitter user pointed out that it wasn't just members of the "samosa gang" who were disappointed by the prosthetics, but also genuine fans.
He replied to Rangoli's tweet: "There are also genuine fans who didn't quite like the prosthetics/photography... no need to troll everybody under the sun."
Another person commented: "I hope you take social media feedbacks seriously because Kangana has said multiple times that she appreciates constructive criticism. The team still has time, we hope the prosthetics don't ruin the hard work Kangana is putting in. The emotions should reflect on the face."
After the teaser was released online, several people criticised the actor's noticeably plastic appearance. The filmmakers had previously spoken about hiring internationally-acclaimed make-up artistes to work on the project.
In September, Kangana's team shared a picture on Instagram which showed the actor being scanned for prosthetics.
The post was captioned: "Kangana Ranaut going through prosthetic measurements at Jason Collins's Studio in Los Angeles for #Thalaivi. Jason has previously worked for Captain Marvel creating prosthesis for Brie Larson. Needless to say, Jayalalithaa's Biopic will definitely be something mind blowing."
Fans were decidedly displeased with Kanagana's Thalaivi look. While one compared her look to Thomas the Tank Engine, another wondered why she couldn't put in actual hard work and gain weight for the role, instead of wearing makeup and a fat-suit.
"Lmao this looks so fake," wrote one social media user. Another said: "She neither looks Kangana nor Jayalalithaa." Another user was reminded of Anil Kapoor's bodysuit-ridden obese-man look in Badhai Ho Badhai. "That's anil kapoor from badhai ho badhai," he noted.
Still another user tweeted: "Kangana looking hilarious with 1 kg make-up."
The poster of Thalaivi shows Kangana with thick makeup on her face, perfecting Jayalalithaa's "victory sign" and soft smile.
She is seen in a green sari with a green jacket on top. A smaller photo shows Kangana as a younger Jayalalithaa, when she used to be a film actor.
The teaser begins with a scene from a film's sets depicting Jayalalithaa as a "superstar heroine".
It transforms into a scene from a political rally with multiple people cheering her.
"When one plays a real-life character in the film, it becomes extremely important for one to physically look like that person," Kangana told Mid Day.
"Vijay (producer) wanted me to resemble her (Jayalalithaa) as closely as possible.
"She endured a drastic physical transformation in her life. Having grown up as a bharatanatyam dancer, she had an hour-glass figure. Then, when she joined politics, she had an accident which demanded that she be injected with huge doses of steroids.
"While we could not depict all of that, we did take measures to resemble her during these phases."
Kangana had earlier talked about struggling to gain weight. But for this role she put on 6 kg.
The actress also revealed that she took a mild dose of hormone pills since she is tall and lean and had to put on weight near the belly and thighs.
"His (Collins) team made a structure that was suitable to make me look voluptuous," said Kangana.
"During the portions showcasing her as a young politician, we aimed to make only my face look fuller. As for the rest of the body, it took the team seven hours each day to acquire the look.
"The hands had to be re-done and different kinds of pads were used for different parts of the body."
Producer Vishnu Vardhan Induri said after the teaser was launched: "I am excited to show this story of an actor turned politician, which is based on one of India's most loved and followed public figures. Thalaivi is a very dear project to all of us as it is a story that needs to be told. And the way Kangana has slipped into the character is simply amazing. Can't wait to present this film to the audience."
Kangana recently admitted that she is finding it difficult to learn Tamil. She added that she is learning the language according to the demand of the film's script.
"This film will be released in Hindi and Tamil, so we will do something about it," she said. "Obviously, I have to mug up those dialogues because Tamil is not an easy language. Earlier, I was trying to learn the complete Tamil language because I have learnt English as well, but now I am learning Tamil as per the demand of the film's script."
Kangana, who recently announced that she will also be doing a film based on the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case, started shooting for Thalaivi on Nov 10.
Apart from her, only Arvind Swami's name has been confirmed in the cast.
The film, being directed by A.L. Vijay, is scheduled to release next year in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Indo-Asian News Service
"She neither looks Kangana nor Jayalalithaa."
