Suniel Shetty ages himself to look like Thalaivan in 'Dharavi Bank'

Mumbai, Nov 11

Actor Suniel Shetty will be seen playing the role of Thalaivan - a powerful, ruthless and unattainable kingpin of India's largest slum Dharavi in the upcoming series 'Dharavi Bank'. To aesthetically portray the part of this 63-year-old villain, the team had to use prosthetics to make him look over 60.

Speaking about the actor's commitment to this role, Director Samit Kakkad said, "Anna would report on location at 5 a.m. on the dot because it would take him four hours to do hair and make-up with the use of prosthetics."

"Thalaivan's character spans across different age groups in the series and to showcase this progression, we had to make Anna age himself because he is so fit that nobody would believe he is playing a 63-year-old without prosthetics."

"He helms a Rs 30,000 crore empire and his face and posture had to reflect the responsibilities he has and the experiences he's endured to stay elusive and successful. So, I understand why we had to use prosthetics and even though it took 4 hours daily to perfect this look, it added a lot of authenticity to my character - the ruthless Thalaivan."

On his role, Suniel commented, "As I always say, age is just a number and I can only hope and work towards living a healthy lifestyle with the right nutrition and exercise. My character, Thalaivan, is a self-made leader that commands the authority and respect of the people of Dharavi, who he considers as part of his family and are of utmost importance to him.

Produced by Zee Studios, the series also features a stellar cast comprising of Vivek Anand Oberoi, Sonali Kulkarni, Luke Kenny, Freddy Daruwala, Shanthi Priya, Santosh Juvekar, Nagesh Bhosle, Siddharth Menon, Hitesh Bhojraj, Samikssha Batnagar, Rohit Pathak, Jaywant Wadkar, Chinmay Mandlekar, Bhavvana Rao, Shruti Srivastava, Sandhya Shetty, Pavitra Sarkar and Vamsi Krishna in key roles.

'Dharavi Bank' to stream on MX Player from November 19.