Human heroes

Bachchan was required on the sets five hours before the shoot every day because that’s how long it took to get his silicon prosthetics to set. Balki knew that he wanted to cast Abhishek as Amitabh’s father and previously thought that fiction would be the only way to go. Then,after some research,a doctor told him about the condition. Balki googled Progeria and found a lot of videos and information before he decided to use the condition in the film. The shooting of the film has just concluded and Balki is extremely happy with the result. “Amitabh was so great and patient during the entire shoot. The look has come out really well and everyone has been telling me about how they don’t recognise Amitabh at all,” says the director.

Hrithik Roshan
AFTER playing the disabled young boy in Koi Mil Gaya,Hrithik Roshan plays a paraplegic in Guzaarish. The romantic film,which is directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali,pairs Roshan with Aishwarya Rai. Paraplegia impairs the lower extremities leaving the patient dependent on wheelchairs or complete support during movement. The film is said to be inspired from the 1972 play Whose Life Is It Anyway? written by Brian Clark. The plot was also adapted into a movie in 1981 in which the main character was played by Richard Dreyfuss. The movie deals with the still ongoing debate of euthanasia. The sets of the film are a grand mansion and for most of the movie,Roshan is on a remote-controlled wheelchair. He has also grown his hair and beard to give himself an unkempt look; Roshan underwent training and met various paraplegic patients to understand their physical behaviour.

Shah rukh Khan
In Karan Johar’s next,My Name is Khan,Shah Rukh Khan plays Rizwan Khan,a Muslim man who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome. The neural disorder makes it difficult for a person to socialise with others along with repetitive patterns of behaviour. It is because of this odd behaviour that the cops suspect him to be involved in terror attacks. Khan,of course did a lot of research about the syndrome,scientific facts and behaviour of the patients. “I always internalise every character I play. We’ve all tried to be as sensitive and real as we can. It is because of all this that the film has taken so long to make,” says Khan.

The film will allow us to see Khan in a completely unglamorous avatar since there are a lot of jail and court scenes where he is trying to prove his innocence.