I share a very good relation with my actors - Umesh Yamgaar

Umesh Yamgaar is a name that has been associated with casting for many years now. Umesh came down to Mumbai from his home town Nagpur with aspirations of becoming an actor, but soon made a name for himself as Casting Coordinator and has set up many successful shows and given the television industry some popular faces. Ups and downs have been part of his life, and he now makes a comeback as Casting Consultant of Madhubala Ek Ishq Ek Junoon (Colors), produced by Nautanki Films and BAG Films. Here is Umesh Yamgaar in a frank t?te-?-t?te with Tellychakkar.com for our Behind the Lens section. Tell us about your journey in the industry… To begin with, I came to Mumbai to be an actor. But within a year, I switched my career into casting. I was part of Balaji Telefilms, Rajshri Productions, BR Films as Casting Co-ordinator. Since I had good knowledge and sense of casting, all treated me as Casting Director. I have set up many projects in my career span. I have also had my ups and downs. However, Viraasat on Star Plus in the year 2005 changed my life completely and earned me the recognition that I was waiting for. I have launched about 100 shows and brought to the limelight around 150 faces. I left casting somewhere in 2007 and got into creativity. That was when my association with Swastik Pictures began where I was part of shows like Mata Ki Chowki, Saas V/s Bahu, Hindi Hai Hum. I worked with them for nearly one and half years, and then leaped forward to start my own company Rudraksh Entertainment. It was my bad luck that the company did not do well; the show that I was working on got scrapped and I incurred a huge loss. The suffering continued from 2009-2011 and this has to be my worst phase. And then Shailja Kejriwal who was with Sagar Pictures wanted me as a Casting Consultant for Dhwarkadheesh Bhagwan Shri Krishna and I got into casting again. Later, Saurabh Tewari wanted me to cast for Madhubala Ek Ishq Ek Junoon and I would term Madhubala as my comeback show. How has life treated you during your low phase? I have had a very bad run and I don’t blame anyone for it. I made a grave mistake in trying to launch my company; I invested a lot in setting up my office and putting my team in place. I worked on my company for nine months for no return at all. I had nobody for support and only handful of friends gave me moral support. I am thankful to Saurabh Tewari for trusting in me and taking me in as the Casting Consultant for Madhubala. Talk us through your association with Swastik Pictures. Siddharth Tewary and Vikas Seth are like brothers to me. I was looking after the Creative Supervision of Mata Ki Chowki on Sahara One. I was the celebrity interface on the reality show Saas V/s Bahu wherein I managed celebrities, set up their songs and costumes. When I decided to work individually by starting my company, Siddharth accepted my decision whole-heartedly and allowed me to leave. Tell us about the shows you have set up. Viraasat for Star Plus, Tumhari Disha, Kaisa Yeh Pyaar Hai, the post leap of Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii and Kasauti Zindagi Kay, post leap of Kkusum, Bidaai, Rishton Se Badi Pratha are some of the shows I set up. And the faces you have launched on television? Angad Hasija, Seema Kapoor, Rucha Gujarathi, Chavi Mittal, Rahul Raj Singh, Muskaan Nancy James are few of them. As a casting consultant, describe your role. Firstly, I understand the character; have discussions with concerned people in the channel and production house, and then short list the actors who I feel are sure to fit the bill. I do not believe in auditioning many actors and then short listing people. I feel my strength lies in the fact that I cast actors very easily. I understand the story, meet the producers, check the age group required before casting. I would attribute my success to the sixth sense I have in understanding the faces and characters. Where does your role as Casting Coordinator/Consultant end? Well, I usually set up shows, and once the show is set up and the casting process is complete, I move out of it and look for another show. But in the case of Madhubala, the plans are different. I will stick on to it as long as Saurabh Tewari wants me. Are you casting for any films? Yes, I have worked on movies like Babul, Bandha Ye Bindaas hai, Family Aa Rahi Hai. I am presently working on three more films, but I cannot talk about that now. Tell us about Umesh Yamgaar… the person… I am an open book. I am too much into God, Sai Baba. He gives me the strength to work hard, he helped me to stand up on my feet again and fight with the world. I am strong from inside, and reciprocate with love for love and hate for hate. Many people took advantage of my qualities, but I took everything as a learning process. Whoever has come in my life has taught me new lessons. Your likes and dislikes? I am very hygiene conscious and don’t like things around me to be messy. I am choosy about my food. I like to dance and write. I have been a dance teacher to small kids in my home town Nagpur during my growing up days. As I said, I wanted to become an actor but then that did not happen. I aim to write and produce good movies and soaps in the future. Do you have to keep a tab on the ratings as the casting consultant? I do not know about other casting coordinators. But I am a very emotional person and I pray that my show gets good numbers every Tuesday night. Do you face the brunt when an actor gets reprimanded on sets for misconduct? See, if an actor wants something I feel that the producers should see to it that their actors are comfortable. I share a very good relation with my actors, and discuss with them quite often. If they have any problems I see to it that I take it to the producer’s notice. I try to solve things mutually. Having said this, when there is a serious case of misconduct it has to be treated in a different way. But I have never come across such a problem in my casting career. Do you feel sandwiched between producer and actor at times? Yes, that usually happens. See, when we cast we do not look at the personal nature of an actor. We cast them for a particular role. I believe that small issues between actor and producer can be sorted out by conversation. And it is always necessary to hear both sides of the story before jumping into any conclusion. If an actor has been waiting for many hours and still has not shot for a scene, he tends to lose his mind. The same happens with producers when they are stuck with telecast issues and the actor is not ready to cooperate. So it is always important to handle issues after knowing the facts. Your long term goal… I have started writing nowadays and will want to do good projects in films as writer and producer. What do you have to say about producers and channels wanting to cast more of the new faces these days when compared to the experienced seasoned actors? I don’t think that only a good face will create magic. A good story and faces that perfectly suit the characters is the right mix for success. I am fine with new people coming in but the person has to be a good actor. Your favourite when it comes to the youngsters… Suhasi Dhami is a brilliant actress. And Nikhil Chaddha is one actor who has shown a good growth as actor. On a concluding note… what do you have to share with our readers? Well, I would like to thank the Vice President of BAG Films, Sahil Khosla and Saurabh Tewari for offering me a show like Madhubala. In fact, BAG Films had approached me earlier for their show on Life OK, Sapnon Ke Bhanwar Mein but things did not work out then. And when they planned Madhubala, they called me again and wanted to meet. You will not believe, but after just ten minutes of talking, things fell in place and I was on board as Casting Consultant of the show. I would like to sign off by thanking them whole heartedly.