This article was taken from the April 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
When Bollywood needs a body double, it turns to Dirty Hands. Founded in 2008 by Zuby Johal and Rajiv Subba, both 32, the Ahmedabad-based prosthetics firm has created everything from bloodied corpses to a photorealistic Gandhi. For 2014 film Finding Fanny it built an animatronic cat (above) so lifelike that the censor had to certify it. "I had to get a stamped paper to prove it was made of silicone," says Johal.
The pair found inspiration via tutorial videos on YouTube. "Rajiv realised silicone hadn't been explored in India," says Johal. "So we got some and learned through trial and error." Their break came in 2012 when they collaborated with director Anurag Kashyap on his crime film Gangs of Wasseypur. "He wanted something people hadn't seen before," says Johal. So they brought the script to life with visceral images of severed hands and heads.
Creating such detailed prosthetics is arduous. First, the artists make a mould of the actor's head or a body part, then cast a wax model. Once this design is approved, the artist completes the casting in silicone. The skin colour and make-up are painted by hand; hair is sewn on last. Thanks to Dirty Hands' models, Bollywood directors can keep the cameras on when previously they would have cut away. "Directors want to make films which audiences can relate to," says Subba. "They don't find computer effects realistic."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
