the disguise hides the wrong body

The cover has to suppress not deficits but assets. Marathe, an operative in prime condition, must play a wasted addict-cripple, so he hunches "to minimalize the musculature of health of his upper torso" the way another agent would pad or paint to add signs of ruin — and later flinches from the office dog, sniffs on cue, and drapes himself in a lap-blanket. The A.F.R. legend is built downward from strength toward frailty: where Steeply straps anatomy on, Marathe hides the anatomy he has, both men falsifying the body to sell a role.