Ramayana actor Chetan Hansraj reveals his Raja Mali look took 4 hours to create

Sharing behind-the-scenes photos, Chetan Hansraj credited director Nitesh Tiwari and the Ramayana crew for bringing the epic to life.

Actor Chetan Hansraj, who plays Raja Mali, the maternal grandfather of Ravana, in Ramayana, recently shared his experience of working on the film on social media. The actor posted behind-the-scenes pictures from the sets and credited makeup artist Virginia Holmes for his look in the film. He also revealed that it took the makeup team four gruelling hours every day to create his character's look.

Chetan Hansraj shared his experience of working on Ramayana.

'The visual madness doesn't happen in isolation'

Chetan also shared a picture with director Nitesh Tiwari and credited him and the rest of the team for bringing the world of Ramayana to life. He wrote, "The architects of the epic. 🎬🔥 ​The visual madness you are all seeing on the big screen doesn't happen in isolation. It takes a village of absolute masterminds to build a cinematic universe of this scale. ​Massive respect to our visionary director @niteshtiwari22 for steering this colossal ₹1,500 crore ship and trusting me to anchor the opening sequence."

'Four grueling hours every day' for Chetan Hansraj's look

Crediting makeup artist Virginia Holmes and her team, Chetan wrote, "Before I even stepped onto the Volume, the brilliant Virginia Holmes @virgholmes and her team spent 4 grueling hours every day meticulously sculpting the ancient, brutal visage of Raja Mali onto my face."

The actor also spoke about working with movement director Terry Notary, who is known for his work on Hollywood films, including the Planet of the Apes franchise, X2 (2003), Superman Returns (2006) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).

Speaking about working with him, Chetan wrote, "Then came the physical execution. An incredible honor working alongside the legend Terry Notary @terrynotary (Action Director , Motion Capture & Movement Director). We spent hours breaking down the exact physics and psychology of a demon king so that every single movement felt lethal. ​Huge props to Ian Van Temperley @stuntalliancegroup and his stunt team for curating those absolutely insane action sequences, ensuring every swing of the axe was merciless. ​And a massive shoutout to Andrew Doucette (Animation Supervisor) for taking all that raw performance capture data and translating it into the most groundbreaking VFX Indian cinema has ever seen. ​The blood, sweat, and scale of this film is historic. Thank you for the massive love on the recent posts!"

About Ramayana

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra, Ramayana is the first instalment of a planned two-part cinematic adaptation of the Hindu epic. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana.

Ramayana released in theatres worldwide on November 5 in multiple languages. The second part is scheduled to release in 2028.