Mallika Sherawat’s latest act of turning from woman to snake in nine different stages doesn’t come easy. Govind Menon, producer of The Hissss, talks about the transformation in eerie detail. Mallika can't go to the loo for 10 hours when she's like this!
How long does it take to get the snake’s make-up done on Mallika? It depends on what stage she is in, in that particular scene. Make-up for the earliest stages takes 2 to 3 hours, while the later stages take 4 to 5 hours.
• What kind of make-up and costumes are used?
It’s MUFX (prosthetic make-up). It’s basically a technology that has won hearts and awards. It has been used in Star Trek, Lord Of The Rings, The Hulk, and in vampire movies. We’ve got Robert Kurtzman, one of the greatest special effects artiste who uses animatronics to create live creatures, from rats to dinosaurs. He builds them from scratch, so that they can move, breathe, sweat and bleed almost as if they are real. He has created nine models of snakes, in different stages. These are operated by five people simultaneously with the help of remote controls, while Mallika acts.
• How many artistes does it take? Two artistes work on her get-up, Connie does her body, and Melanie does her face. The material she wears is quite slimy, it just sticks on to her skin.
• Does it restrain Mallika from carrying out her regular bodily functions?
Some suits are really uncomfortable, so much so that she can’t go to the toilet for almost 8 to 10 hours at a stretch. It’s torturous! She can’t even drink water. But she’s being a sport. And she was warned about it before.
• Can she move about or does she need to be carried?
The snake suit does restrain her natural movement, for she can only move in a way a snake can! For the most part, she has to be carried. She has to be covered, so that no one sees her get-up, and carried to and from the sets every time she has a shot.
• What about the eyes?
She has to wear huge contact lenses in her eyes, they are so big that they cover the whites of her eyes as well. It’s quite painful. She needs to remove them every half hour so that her eyes can breathe.
• How long does it take for the make-up to be removed? That’s comparatively quicker, it takes about one to one-and-a-half hours.
• How often has this kind of makeup been done? No one has ever done a snake transforming into a woman and vice versa before - the way we are doing it. You’ve seen werewolves, vampires, aliens, etc before, but not this
