Dharmendra dresses up and accessorises for Hema Malini's new film Tell Me Oh Khuda

Dharmendra, whose last attempt at sporting a new look was back in 1972 when he wore an earring to play Raka, a street performer, in Ramesh Sippy's delightful Seeta aur Geeta, hardly seems the sort of veteran actor who'd don a wig with sideburns to play a ganglord.

But for wife Hema Malini, Dharmji decided to go the distance. Not only did the yesteryear heartthrob don a wig in Malini's soon to be released film Tell Me Oh Khuda, he's also sporting a tattoo and an earring.

Oh, and his role? That of a Goan ganglord.

Gushes daughter Esha Deol, "My father doesn't really need a get-up. You just have to put him in a frame and he takes over."

"In the film, papa plays a Goan ganglord who is suave and very stylish. He changed his entire look including his hairstyle. He has even worn earrings, " she says.

What about the tattoo? Is it for real? "Yes, the tattoo was Papa's idea, " says an excited Deol.

"It's a fake tattoo of a ship's anchor on his arm. The sideburns are my mother's idea, " she adds.

Talking of sharing the same frame, Deol says she couldn't sleep the night before the first shot. "It was a very emotional experience for both of us " him more than me " to play a father-daughter role on screen."

Of course, that meant lessons on set too.

"Since papa's so good with Hindi and Urdu, he changed my dialogues when he thought they could sound better. Did you know that he's a brilliant Urdu poet? I'm persuading him to publish a book of his shayari. My father is the original rock star."

However, Dharmji won't be attending the IIFA awards this week in Toronto, where Deol will be promoting her film with co-stars Arjan Bajwa and Chandan Roy Sanyal.