We love him all suave and clean-shaven, but golly, when Aamir Khan goes all grungy and scruffy, he cleans takes our breath away! Leaked images of the actor’s look from Thugs of Hindostan show the powerhouse actor in ragged clothes, his hair messy and with a bushy moustache, to boot.

Aamir plays a pirate in this period action-adventure film, written and directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya. And the chameleonesque actor has, as usual, sprung a surprise on viewers. While he had been spotted sporting a thick beard and a long moustache up until recently, images of the star on set show him in an unseen before look.

…Entirely expected actually! When it comes to Aamir Khan, we know better than to expect the tried and tested. The actor is known to spend months fine-tuning his looks for his different characters.

If his Bhuvan in the period sage Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India introduced us to his dhoti-clad, gamcha-wearing, earring-sporting rustic look, his spiked hair and cool ‘soul patch’ (goatee) was the epitome of cool in Dil Chahta Hai. His long locks combined with thick moustache for his outing as Mangal Pandey in The Rising added that amount of rebellion and romance, while his wavy locks and flowing scarves in Fanaa effectively conveyed his flirty nature.

All the boys went out and got a wardrobe change to ape his colourful jackets and funky shirts in Rang De Basanti, but it wasn’t as easy to acquire his eight-pack abs he sported in Ghajini! And yes, that extreme crew cut was just too radical for the average Joe. You have to admit, his popping ears and flat hair went amazingly with his oddball alien outing in PK, even as he went on to make the bulky, grey-haired Mahavir Singh Phogat, all too believable in Dangal. And don’t forget how he lost all that bulk in weeks to play the sculpted version of his younger wrestler self!

Phew! No wonder we say there are actors… and then there’s Aamir Khan.