Ritoo Jenjani creates a Goddess (original) (raw)

Prosthetic makeup is not new, but earlier it was used mostly to create convincing zombies and demons.
In the last few years, however, this area of expert makeup has seen a lot of change and people are more aware of it. Not just

Bollywood

(movies like Paa (Amitabh Bachchan), The Dirty Picture (Vidya Balan) used prosthetic makeup) but even the small screen now uses this expertise.

The television show Mahadevsaw Pravati transform into Goddess Maa

Kali

and the makers took help of prosthetic makeup artist Ritoo Jenjani. Claiming to be Indian's first prosthetic makeup artist, Ritoo has been getting many offers in both small and big screen. After doing Vishvaropamwith Kamal Hasan, and Rise of the Zombiewith Luke Kenny, she grabbed a lot of attention for her work.
"I got a call from the makers of the show Mahadev, where Parvati takes the Maa Kali

avatar

and they wanted me to create the entire look for the Devi Maa - prosthetic tongue, skull mala, skirt made of

bones

, demon head, prosthetic hands and full body painting for the Kali Avatar. I did a lot of research and then the final look was created. It was a very satisfying experience."

Ritoo states that the look of Kaali maa, though scary, "had to be done while maintaining the dignity and respect of the Goddess Kali Maa".
"It was a challenge to keep that 'Maa' emotion in the look," says the talented makeup artist. Ritoo, trained in this special makeup technique says, "Usually people think that prosthetics is only about making horror movies but it's also about creating avatars. To make the actor look exactly like the character he or she is playing is my job and I love it."