Television industry is obsessed with physical appearances: Casting Director Sanjay Shukla

Casting Director Sanjay Shukla speaks about his journey in the entertainment industry. Read on.

MUMBAI: TellyChakkar.com got in touch with popular Casting Director Sanjay Shukla from the entertainment world who spoke at length about his journey in the industry and his decision of shifting from television space to movies and web-series. (Read here: A Director's vision is fulfilled by a Casting Director: Kuldeep Singh Chauhan)

Speaking about his journey in the industry, Sanjay said, “I started my career as a casting director in 2017 with Hats Off Productions. I did a couple of shows for the production house and hopped to another production house and did casting for years. In the course of time, I got associated with production houses like Balaji Telefilms, Beyond Dreams, among several others.”

We asked Sanjay about his decision of taking up casting as a profession. He said, “The fact is that I came to Mumbai to become an actor. From 2013, I struggled in the field as an actor and bagged many projects. But, in the course of time, I realised that a lot of actors are quite misjudged for their physical appearances. Casting Directors often don’t entertain the newbies. They are always told that they are ‘not fit’. Sometimes the casting directors don’t even prefer taking auditions of new talent and only judge them on the basis of their looks. I entered the casting space to give opportunities to the newbies so that they can showcase their talent.”

Well, after casting for television for a few years, Sanjay moved to Bollywood and web-series’ space. Explaining the reason behind the same, he said, “There’s no respect for talent in television. For casting directors, there isn’t much scope as many a time, the production and the channel do not give a leeway to the casting directors and don’t go with their instincts. Casting Directors in the television industry are mere puppets in the hands of the channels and the production houses. Meanwhile, in Bollywood and OTT space, importance is given to the casting directors’ words and hence I preferred to take the shift from television to other mediums.”

We asked Sanjay to give a tip to all the budding casting directors, and he shared, “The most important suggestion would be to not judge a book by its cover. An actor might not look at all presentable in branded clothes but he might possess incredible talent and hence I think casting directors shouldn’t let down newbies without an audition. At least give them one chance, one audition, post which you’ll have clarity over their caliber, and then one can judge them.”

Sanjay has a couple of movies and web-series in the pipeline.

Here’s wishing him all the best for his future endeavours.

(Also read: Negotiating with an actor to the production house’s budget is difficult in these times: Casting Director Salman Khan)

Like
0
Love
0
Haha
0
Yay
0
Wow
0
Sad
0
Angry
0

About Author

Submitted by Aqsa Akbani Siddiqui on Thu, 12/03/2020 - 11:43

Add new comment

Tellychakkar Google News Follow
Top Stories

MUMBAI : Ulka Gupta rose to fame as a young child star, and her fans are excited to see her in this…

MUMBAI : Zee TV’s Bhagya Lakshmi is one of the most loved and celebrated shows on television and it…

MUMBAI : Ankit Raizada is a well known face in the world of Indian Television. His charm and…

MUMBAI : Shivangi Joshi became a household name for her role Naira in Star Plus' popular drama…

MUMBAI : Tanvi Dogra is a well known name in the world of Indian Television. She has been part of…

MUMBAI : The much-anticipated Baby John Taster Cut, starring Varun Dhawan, has been released and is…

Recent Stories
Latest Videos