Chetan Hansraj, who played the role of Raja Mali in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana, offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the work involved in creating his look. The actor revealed that transforming his appearance for the character required close to four hours of makeup every day.
Sharing pictures with Nitesh Tiwari and a few members of Ramayana, Chetan wrote, “The architects of the epic. The visual madness you are all seeing on the big screen doesn't happen in isolation. It takes a village of absolute masterminds to build a cinematic universe of this scale. Massive respect to our visionary director @niteshtiwari22 for steering this colossal Rs 1,500 crore ship and trusting me to anchor the opening sequence."
The actor credited makeup artist Virginia Holmes and her team for their effort. “Before I even stepped onto the volume, the brilliant Virginia Holmes @virgholmes and her team spent 4 gruelling hours every day meticulously sculpting the ancient, brutal visage of Raja Mali onto my face,” he added.
Chetan also spoke about working with movement director Terry Notary, who is known for his work on Hollywood films, including the Planet of the Apes franchise, X2, Superman Returns and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. “Then came the physical execution. An incredible honour working alongside the legend Terry Notary @terrynotary (Action Director, Motion Capture & Movement Director),” he noted.
The actor continued, “We spent hours breaking down the exact physics and psychology of a demon king so that every single movement felt lethal. Huge props to Ian Van Temperley @stuntalliancegroup and his stunt team for curating those absolutely insane action sequences, ensuring every swing of the axe was merciless. And a massive shoutout to Andrew Doucette (Animation Supervisor) for taking all that raw performance capture data and translating it into the most groundbreaking VFX Indian cinema has ever seen. The blood, sweat, and scale of this film are historic. Thank you for the massive love on the recent posts!"
Chetan Hansraj's character Raja Mali is the maternal grandfather of Ravana. Ramayana Part One hit the theatres worldwide on November 5. The second part of the film is scheduled for a 2028 release.
Also Read | 'Nitesh Sir Wanted Fire In My Eyes': Raghav Juyal On Playing Meghnad In Ramayana
