How Shahrukh Khan Tranforms To Fit His Role Bauua Singh In Zero

As Shahrukh Khan’s upcoming film is all set to release on 21 December, the fan is bouncing off the walls how Zero’s director Aanand L Rai managed to turn Shahrukh Khan become as small as Bauua Singh. Previously, the trailer revealed Shahrukh Khan’s look on the film as he played a 38-year-old dwarf name Bauua Singh from Merrut.

Because of his small size, he struggled to find a marriage partner. However, he found his luck in a matrimonial agency who help him to find the love of his life. Even though, his first relationship is tested when he fell into a triangle love. After that, the adventure of three people also become a journey seeking for true love and appreciation for life.

Besides twist-filled plot, Shahrukh Khan’s fan is also curious about how the superstar transforms into a dwarf in the film. And here is the secret.

VFX technology

First and foremost, the answer to ‘King Khan’ drastic transformation is Visual Effects (VFX). In comparison with Baahubali, an Indian epic action film which required to have a lot of VFX shots up to 45,00 - 5000 shots, Zero’s producer revealed that they have up to 1000 VFX shots.

Also, to ensure Shahrukh Khan’s flawless transformation in the movie, there was a team of professional in VFX technique to work relentlessly behind the scenes. The typical method used here is forced perspective, CG tracking and double scales.

Forced Perspective

If you have watched Zero’s trailer, apparently you would hardly tell Shahrukh Khan’s height in the film until you see another scene which has people in the background. That is how forced perspective work as it mimics the concept of an optical illusion, which makes an object appear closer, bigger, further or smaller than their actual size. And in this case, forced perspective was used to make him look shorter in the film.

Many other blockbusters used the same technique such as the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, wherein the small hobbits or giant Hagrid’s look is the result of this visual effects.

Double Scales

While forced perspective only requires digital expertise, the use of double scales requires a lot more physical effort. To employ this technique, there must be two cameramen, while one shoot SRK, the other record scene without him in. After that, these two shot will be combined at different scales to make them become a single scene with SRK’s smaller appearance.

CG tracking

Another technology to shrunk the actor image is CG tracking (Character Generation Trackers). These trackers are usually pasted on Shahrukh Khan’s body during the shooting process. Then from this raw data, CG team will make matte images and 3D image.