Roopa Ganguly recollects how it would take her hours to slide into the get-up of Draupadi in Mahabharat

It has been over three decades since the cult classic Mahabharat first aired on television, but every actor who played a pivotal role in the lavishly mounted mythological drama is still fresh in the minds of the audience.

Starring in a mythological show is not an easy task. You need hours in the make-up room to look your part. Veteran actress Roopa Ganguly, who became a household name after playing the character of Draupadi in Mahabharat, vividly remembers how it would take her hours to become the royal queen.

She would reach Mumbai’s Film City at the crack of dawn so that her makeup artists have enough time to transform her into the role of Draupadi.

“Every morning, from my hotel at Juhu, Bombay, I would reach Film City, and by 5 am, I would be in the make-up room. The shooting would start by 7 am, and my elaborate makeup and hairdressing would take at least an hour-and-a-half or even more, every day. And, it was long hair and we wore special costumes and a lot of other things too, which took time, so I would reach there before other actors," Ganguly told PTI in an interview.

The actress also said that she watched the show much later due to the hectic shooting schedule. “I got to finally see the series properly on television when Ramayan and Mahabharat were brought back on TV for a re-run during the lockdown, and I really enjoyed it. It also made me very nostalgic about the shooting days,” she said.

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