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Kapoor & Sons is the Latest Addition to Films with Bad Makeup

Bollywood somehow can’t get its act together when it comes to makeup, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ being its latest mistake

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Did you notice Rishi Kapoor’s new look in Kapoor & Sons? In the name of looking old, the affable Kapoor’s face has been reduced to a pile of cakey makeup, reminding us again of how we fail so terribly when it comes to ‘makeovers’ in our films. Turning back the wheels of time, we see that such follies have been a regular feature in our films.

Madhuri Dixit in Sangeet (1992)

Bollywood somehow can’t get its act together when it comes to makeup, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ being its latest mistake
Madhuri Dixit in a scene from Sangeet (1992)

Playing both mother and daughter, Madhuri Dixit’s mother character dons a wig with strands of white hair in a sea of black and a bun of a wig that’s become a regular feature in our daily soaps. Add to that terriblly oily makeup. Instead of bringing believability, it demands us to exercise suspension of disbelief every time she appears on screen.

Priyanka Chopra in 7 Khoon Maaf

Bollywood somehow can’t get its act together when it comes to makeup, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ being its latest mistake
Annu Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra in a scene from 7 Khoon Maaf

Playing an Anglo-Indian woman, Priyanka Chopra’s Susanna tried her best to present an interesting spectacle of a serial killer in 7 Khoon Maaf, but the patchy make-up served as a huge hurdle. A woman ageing with the progression of time and continuous marriages, Chopra’s face didn’t show the credible wrinkles, but did end up being a lesson in ‘how not do makeup in films’.

Piyush Mishra in Tamasha

Bollywood somehow can’t get its act together when it comes to makeup, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ being its latest mistake
Piyush Mishra plays the part of an old storyteller in Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha

Piyush Mishra’s look as the old storyteller in the second half of Tamasha reminded us of one of Star Wars’ most insufferable characters. Yes, Jar Jar Binks. Forget the loud, and ham-handed performance, his make-up was the stuff that nightmares are made of. Grow old, but don’t be like Jar Jar Binks. Please.

Kamal Haasan in Dasavathaaram

Bollywood somehow can’t get its act together when it comes to makeup, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ being its latest mistake
Kamal Haasan in a scene from Dasavathaaram

Kamal Haasan is one actor who has donned many garbs, from endearing to outright bizarre in multiple films throughout his career. In his multilingual Dasavathaaram, he played as many as ten characters, and a lot of the avatars had to take the help of prosthetics. And this is where it went terribly wrong. The film had the ambition of an actor playing ten characters, but not enough finesse at its disposal to make the looks convincing. Some of them were outright cringe-worthy with appalling finishing touches.

Anushka Shetty in Baahubali: The Beginning

Bollywood somehow can’t get its act together when it comes to makeup, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ being its latest mistake

S. S. Rajamouli’s epic extravaganza lured everyone to theatres, and made a quick bucks offering visuals of wonder and imagination. In such an exciting land, Anushka Shetty as Maharani Devasena stood out for her cakey makeup, which made her look like a horror lady rather than an aged, tormented queen. Why can’t we go easy on the makeup?

The idea of makeup has gone through a sea change in Hollywood. In the business of trail and error, they have succeeded in turning implausible into realistic. But blunders too have been countless, some of them bordering on inherent racism to out-and-out hilarious.

Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Bollywood somehow can’t get its act together when it comes to makeup, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ being its latest mistake
Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi, with false buck teeth and darkened skin in Breakfast at Tiffany’s

The otherwise charming Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi with false buck teeth and darkened skin in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, is a supreme insult to Asians. His existence in an otherwise delightful adaptation of Truman Capote’s novel by Blake Edwards reportedly offended young Bruce Lee so much that he vowed to change the image of Asians in Hollywood, forever.

John Travolta in Battlefield Earth

Bollywood somehow can’t get its act together when it comes to makeup, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ being its latest mistake
John Travolta couldn’t carry off his Battlefield Earth look very convincingly 

If Battlefield Earth is considered one of the worst sci-fi films ever made, Travolta’s bizarre turn as the long haired weirdo has a lot to do with it. Once seen, you can never undo the scar Terl will inflict on you just by being there, with his sidesplitting look.

Helena Bonham Carter in Planet of the Apes

Bollywood somehow can’t get its act together when it comes to makeup, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ being its latest mistake
Helena Bonham Carter appeared as a cross breed of humans and monkeys in Planet of the Apes

The original, as we can guess, was constrained by technological advancements, but still they pulled a decent show with monkey masks. But in the redux, Helena Bonham Carter appeared as a cross breed of humans and monkeys that looked like a new version of Paula Abdul. Carter is famous for sartorial strangeness, but this one just weirded us out.

Shawn and Marlon Wayans in White Chicks

Bollywood somehow can’t get its act together when it comes to makeup, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ being its latest mistake
Shawn and Marlon Wayans in a scene from White Chicks

Two African American male FBI agents disguise themselves as two white women. This is one grand misfire where they are neither white nor chicks. The worst part is that people still watched it, calling it a cult film.

The Ensemble in Cloud Atlas

Bollywood somehow can’t get its act together when it comes to makeup, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ being its latest mistake
Tom Hanks in his various avatars in Cloud Atlas

It was an interesting idea to begin with, to make same actors play different parts to drive home the idea of reincarnation. But when white, black and Asian characters are played by the same actors changing races, it all seemed not-such-a-good idea by the end of it. The movie was ambitious, no doubt, but this trigger of an idea pulled it down substantially.

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

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Topics:  Rishi Kapoor   Makeup   Kapoor & Sons 

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