Actor Bobby Deol, who plays Fateh Singh Lakhawat — a ruthless operative and trainer — in the YRF spy thriller Alpha, has opened up about how the project exposed him to an entirely new dimension of filmmaking, including a digitally de-aged version of himself that he described as nothing short of “surreal.”

A Surreal On-Screen Transformation

Deol said witnessing years stripped from his face through cutting-edge visual effects was unlike anything he had experienced in his career. “It was honestly surreal seeing years disappear from my face! I’ve played many different characters over the years, but this was a first for me,” he said. “As actors, we’re always fascinated by how cinema continues to evolve, and this was one of those moments where you realise how far filmmaking has come.”

However, Deol was quick to draw a line between spectacle and craft. “Technology can only do so much — you still have to perform the character truthfully. That was the exciting part for me: trusting the process while making sure the emotions remained completely honest,” he added.

The Director’s Vision: Story First, Effect Second

Director Shiv Rawail emphasised that the de-aging was never conceived as a visual showpiece. “From the very beginning, we knew this wasn’t a visual effect that existed for spectacle alone. For me, every creative decision has to serve the story. Hence, it was an important storytelling decision because the audience needed to believe they were seeing the character at a very specific point in his life,” Rawail said.

He added that the seamlessness of the illusion was critical to the film’s emotional payoff. “If that illusion didn’t feel seamless, the emotional journey wouldn’t land the way we intended. The challenge was always to make the technology invisible so that audiences remained invested in the story and the performance, not the effect.”

yFX Studios: AI Meets Craftsmanship

The transformation was executed by YRF’s in-house yFX Studios, marking what the team describes as a landmark deployment of AI-assisted visual effects with consistent fidelity across an entire sequence — not merely isolated shots.

Sherry Bharda, Head of yFX Studios and VFX Supervisor, explained the scale of the challenge. “Today’s audiences are incredibly discerning, which means visual effects have to be virtually undetectable. At yFX, for the first time we’ve deployed AI combined with visual effects with this level of fidelity and consistency across an entire sequence, rather than for the odd shot here and there,” Bharda said.

Notably, sourcing usable reference footage proved to be a significant hurdle. “Despite Bobby’s rich legacy on screen, usable footage of him from that era, in matching lighting and angles, was still hard to come by. So our artists had far less to train and work with,” Bharda added. The result, according to the team, represents a new benchmark for de-aging in Indian cinema.

About Alpha

Produced by Aditya Chopra and directed by Shiv Rawail, Alpha features Alia Bhatt, Sharvari, Bobby Deol, and Anil Kapoor in pivotal roles. The film released in theatres on 3 July 2025. It marks the first female-led chapter in YRF’s spy universe and has drawn attention as much for its technical ambition as for its ensemble cast.