The Associated Press

Ayesha Dharker, who stars in Broadway's Bombay Dreams doesn't do the breathing exercises or method-acting techniques that some of her colleagues do to get into character. Instead, she puts on her makeup.

"I see myself become the character in front of my eyes," she explains.

To create the look of glamorous Rani, Dharker worked with the show's costume and set designer Mark Thompson and Bruce Dean, a MAC makeup artist.

"I play a very over-the-top character, she's a Bollywood movie star. The look is wildly over the top, very stylized and extreme," Dharker says.

She mostly uses foundation, mascara and a lot of glitter to accomplish the look.

Because she's Indian and her skin tones varies from week to week depending on her sun exposure, Dharker says she layers foundation with fix powder.

"I've enjoyed experimenting with the loose powder glitter. The trick is to put a tiny bit of gloss or foundation underneath and the glitter will stick for hours," Dharker says.

On her eyes, she uses a neutral shadow - and more glitter. "The glitter is an iridescent, metallic gold so it picks up the color of my costumes. It looks green sometimes, it looks pink sometimes."