Fifteen years in the industry and Shahid Kapoor can’t help marvel over some of the roles he has essayed. “I’m grateful that filmmakers today are offering actors roles that help them rediscover and redefine themselves,” he says. “After 15 years in the industry, what gets me going is making movies that represent different ideologies, cultures and social and economic strata. From Udta Punjab that hits you with its brutal honesty to the cinematic spectacle of Padmaavat, I’ve been fortunate to have a journey with so many mixed variables.”

Haider’s prep was mind-numbing. It also required me to shave my head for the first time in my life. It was an extreme step.

The actor shares the exact process that went into creating some memorable onscreen characters…

Kaminey

Who: He had made people sit up and take notice with Kaminey, in which he played a double role. What’s more, both had speech defects - while Charlie lisped, Guddu stammered. “Vishal sir wanted viewers to feel for the characters, not laugh at them,” he shares.

Prep: “To understand the psychological impact of these disorders, we met a lot of people who stammered. Lisping is more technical but stammering grows out of suppressed emotions, lack of confidence or an emotionally dramatic incident. I worked on this for a month and a year on my body to look mean and rough, a guy from the streets. I also grew a stubble. Before Kaminey, I had always been clean-shaven and it was liberating in a way to not have to shave every day.”

For Tommy's role, I trained three hours a day and wouldn’t eat much. I also got 14 tattoos for the role, all made to order

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Haider

Who: He states that Vishal Bhardwaj also gave him Haider aka Hamlet, one of the most complex Shakespearean characters ever written. “Not everybody gets the opportunity or has the guts to accept the challenge. I did and till the film was complete, I’d worry I was a really bad actor for being unable to scale the bottomless pit that was Haider’s mind!”

Prep: “I knew if I didn’t feel everything he was feeling, even in scenes where he didn’t express much, the end wouldn’t be convincing, so I had to build the journey in my head without it showing up on camera. We were shooting in minus 18 degrees in Kashmir and I was living in this little room from where I could only see snow and my head was full of this multi-layered complex character. Haider’s prep was mind-numbing. It also required me to shave my head for the first time in my life. It was an extreme step but I knew it would add a lot of substance to the character.”

Udta Punjab

Who: “I had to play an alcoholic for the first time. I had never got drunk or smoked before, so I didn’t know what it was like to be high and Tommy was constantly high. I knew if I didn’t get it right, everybody in the fraternity would tell me not to try and show something I didn’t know on camera, so I had to get it right even without the alcohol. Tommy was brazen, cocky and made bad music. And that wasn’t all! As the film’s director Abhishek Chaubey pointed out, this character was also abusive, egoistic and full of himself, yet he wanted people to start loving him in five minutes. And it wasn’t easy.”

Prep: “I had to transform myself physically for the role as cocaine addicts don’t eat much. They are usually deflated as it pushes up their metabolism. At the same time, since Tommy was a star, I needed a good body but one that looked like there’s no food in it because he’s chasing cocaine all the time. I trained three hours a day and wouldn’t eat much. I also got 14 tattoos for the role, all made to order.”