Padmavati: Ranveer Singh joins list of actors whose dark characters took a toll on their health

He was in the darkness so darkness he became. This is what multiple actors have experienced after they embraced the dark in order to play similar characters and ensure they shine in the process. The latest to fall in the line is Ranveer Singh, who plays Sultan Alauddin Khilji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period drama Padmavati this year. Glimpses of his intense and invested portrayal of the Islamic ruler undoubtedly stand out in the film’s trailer. [caption id=“attachment_4131731” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Ranveer Singh in a still from Padmavati. YouTube[/caption] DNA reports that the actor is visiting a psychiatrist in order to get out of the character’s skin. Having submitted himself to the dark role for the past one year, he is reportedly facing a tough time in rising beyond its darkness. This is not the first such instance, either in Bollywood or Hollywood, as a number of actors have been caged within the confines of the dark characters they played on the screen. Rajkummar Rao in Omerta [caption id=“attachment_4131733” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Rajkummar Rao in a still from Omerta. Twitter@RajkummarRao[/caption] The ever-so-jovial Rajkummar Rao plays a terrorist named Omar Sheikh in Hansal Mehta's _Omerta_ . But he confesses that he nosedived into the depth of his character’s psyche to such an extent that he started empathising with his evil intentions. “While I was preparing for this character, the news of the Charlie Hebdo shooting took place in Paris. And my reflex reaction was, ‘Yes. Good’. It was only a few hours later that I realised how much the character affected my own thought process,” said Rajkummar Rao, in an exclusive interview to Firstpost . Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight [caption id=“attachment_2931572” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Heath Ledger as the Joker. Image courtesy: Wikimedia commons[/caption] “He wanted fame, but when he got it, he didn’t want it,” that is what filmmaker Matt Amato had to say about Heath Ledger’s demise, as depicted in the trailer of Ang Lee’s documentary I Am Heath Ledger . Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s 2008 superhero film The Dark Knight is iconic, in more ways than one. It gained even more significance following the death of Ledger, who his close ones claim, could never get out of the darkness he walked into. Varun Dhawan in Badlapur [caption id=“attachment_4131767” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Varun Dhawan in a still from Badlapur. YouTube[/caption] Only Sriram Raghavan could imagine Varun, known for his chocolate boy roles, in an avatar as dark as the protagonist of the 2015 revenge saga Badlapur. As Varun gears up for yet another dark character in Shoojit Sircar's _October_ , he recalled how he ended up fracturing Vinay Pathak’s arm during an aggressive scene in Badlapur. “It is not something that I am proud of,” said Varun, referring to the scene where he admits he got completely comfortable in the character’s skin. Klaus Kinski in Werner Herzog’s films [caption id=“attachment_4131775” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Klaus Kinski[/caption] German actor Klaus Kinski’s life is an open book, and it is not an unpleasant read. After making a career out of dark roles in Werner Herzog’s films like Woyzeck and Fitzcarraldo, developments in his life suggest that he drew a lot from all of them which have most likely taken a toll on his mental health. From spending three days in an asylum for stalking a sponsor of his film to allegations of child abuse by his daughter Pola, he has been in the news for all the wrong reasons all these years. Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Raman Raghav 2.0

“If the character derives pleasure from killing, then it is imperative that you also think the same while you are in the thick of that scene.” This is what Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s justification, loosely translated from Hindi, is for the mean streak he carried on the sets of Anurag Kashyap’s 2016 film Raman Raghav 2.0. Siddiqui recalled how he began seeking pleasure by hurting people before he had to make a conscious effort to snap out of the role of the serial murderer.