Character creations

When 24-year-old Bangalore based Pallavi Shroff needed a special effects (SFX) makeup artist for some scenes in her graduating film Together in 2017 at the Prague Film School, she decided to give it a shot herself to save on costs. So began her interest in SFX and the more complex prosthetic makeup, she told Parsiana on October 12, 2019. During the course, she worked in over 35 short films as scriptwriter, director, assistant cinematographer and art director, she said. Last year she launched her own Pal FX Studios.
The first mainstream film that showcased Shroff’s work as a prosthetic artist was the 2019 trilingual movie Game Over (Hindi, Telugu and Tamil) starring Taapsee Pannu. She created "severed heads” of the supporting actresses which was described as the "major scare” in the film. Unfamiliarity with a regional language is not a limiting factor, says Shroff. A film in Kannada and another in Tamil release before the end of this year, and three Tamil films are slated for 2020.

The artist was excited about her last venture Saand Ki Aankh (Bull’s-eye), starring Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar, which released this Diwali. Shroff stated that Pannu recommended her to the producers for her makeup based on their work together on Game Over. The earlier makeup team had failed to deliver, she explained. The movie narrates the true stories of two women Prakashi and Chandro Tomar aged 60 who take to shooting as a sport. "Makeup (for Pannu, who is 32 years old) had to be done every day from scratch while they shot in Meerut, Delhi and Poona. It took two to three hours to apply and had its on-set challenges especially when it came to shooting in high temperatures,” revealed Shroff of her 40-day shoot. She only worked on the SFX make up for Pannu; while some movie critics slammed the "prosthetics,” Shroff noted that no prosthetics were used. She was brought in when the look was already "locked in” and a few scenes already shot, said the artist.
Shroff explained that while many people may interchangeably use the terms "SFX” and "prosthetics” in connection with makeup, there are differences. SFX involves the use of makeup or silicon and its direct application on the skin of an actor. "Continuity in a film where SFX makeup is used can become a challenge, but this is a more budget friendly option,” she emailed. Prosthetics, on the other hand, can provide more realistic images. A prosthetic artist takes a mold of the actor’s face or limbs and sculpts the casualty or effect required on the mold. Preparing a cast in silicon, latex or gelatin, and painting follows, after which the mold is "applied on the person where the edges are blended into their skin so you can’t see where the piece starts and where it ends… And then final color matching (takes place) so it matches the skin tone and even each pore and wrinkle on the skin of the actor…Continuity can easily be maintained throughout the film,” she stated.

final application of prosthetic makeup

From l: Ervad Urvaksh Bharucha, Pallavi, Kayomarz and Beroz Shroff

"Character creation is when the entire look of an actor is changed to depict an accident like a swollen face or an injury or where the actor is an alien or a superhero… I design and create a look for them according to which I then make prosthetic appliances.
"A film is capable of creating an impression on viewers with its story line and acting… Using prosthetics helps add visual impact. If one sees a film on domestic violence, one empathizes with the victim; however if one depicts swellings or injuries, the impact would be far greater.” The artist says she loves creating something that "hits people to their core and makes them feel the pain or the trauma the character is going through.”
"My goal is to bring up prosthetics in the Indian film industry to the same level as Hollywood which is considered as a benchmark just now,” said Shroff.
Shroff "kept practicing her makeup skills during (her) spare time” after her course in Prague "and here I am a self taught SFX and prosthetic makeup artist,” she said. A seven-week certificate course in character creation from Gorton Studios, Aylesbury, UK followed.
Of her Studios, she says her family —father Kayomarz and mother Beroz — are her core team. Shroff, who terms herself a "pakki bawi (true blue Parsi)” is engaged to 29-year-old Hyderabad based hospitality industry professional Ervad Urvaksh Bharucha. The couple is unsure where they will set up home — Bangalore or Hyderabad. The sudreh-kusti wearing Shroff stated that for her "religion is a personal relationship with a higher being through actions and words. It can be through prayers or by a deep conversation in any language, in an agiary or anywhere.” For Shroff, religion is part of who you are, "but your actions are what define you. I’m somewhere in between a traditionalist and a modernist. It’s all about respecting each other’s values and maintaining a balance between faith and logic.”