Look who kept it real

It's the small things that can make or break a biopic. These 10 actors played their IRL muse so well, we thought they were the real deal

- Sneha Krishnan

Sushant Singh Rajput as MS Dhoni.

RIP, SSR; you were MSD, FR. He knew what he was signing up for with M.S Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016). He trained for months to copy Dhoni's unique wicket-keeping gait and crouch, right down to the way he removed his gloves between overs. But it was the quieter moments that hit harder: The long gazes from the train window, the shy half-smile when love came his way, the way his shoulders relaxed after a win.

Farhan Akhtar as Milkha Singh.

When you're playing the Flying Sikh, you can't exactly phone it in. For Bhaag Mikha Bhaag (2013), Akhtar's physical transformation was only part of the prep. He also had to play a man who was running from his ghosts. His Punjabi diction felt lived-in, silences carried as much grit as the dialogues; Singh himself praised Akhtar's head-tilt. Did your lungs burn too, when you saw Akhtar reach the finish line?

Pratik Gandhi as Harshad Mehta.