Actor-director Shashank Udapurkar, who is making a biopic Anna Kisan Babaurao Hazaare, says that he has made strenuous efforts to transform himself into the film’s titular character.
The filmmaker reveals, “To portray Annaji from the age of 20 to the age of 74, I had to undergo a physical as well as mental transformation. Annaji was in the military, then he became a farmer and thereafter a social activist. For the physical transformation, I reduced my weight from 64 kgs to 57 kgs when I had to wear the military get-up. Then I gradually started increasing my weight to around 70 kgs to enact the scenes of the 74-year-old Annaji. After the shoot wrapped, I have lost around 3-4 kgs but, I need to cut down more ... we shot the older portions just one and a half month back.”
Shashank reveals that it was also difficult to portray his character’s simplicity. “I used to do yoga so that I get into Anna’s zone of simplicity. The actor within me told me to take it up as a challenge.”
The effort however seemed worthwhile for Shashank. Shashank says, “Annaji saw the trailer on the big screen and he said, “For a moment, I felt that I was on the screen.” It boosted my confidence a lot.”