Anmol Ahuja, casting director of Secret Superstar, spoke to Kritika Dua about the challenge of talent hunts, the joy of discovering a ZAIRA WASIM or a TIRTH SHARMA and the dreaded casting couch
Did you know that teen actress Zaira Wasim had to go through several rounds of auditions to make the cut for Secret Superstar despite proving her mettle as the young Geeta Phogat in DangalIJ “By the end of it she had auditioned almost all the scenes. It was funny as there was nothing left for her to try,” said casting directors Anmol Ahuja and Abhishek Banerjee, who have been in the news for sensing raw talent and creating many secret superstars in the film. Strong enough for Aamir Khan to shed his mantle of comfort and play a sleazy music director with a heart of gold.
For those who came in late, Ahuja and Banerjee have made their mark with casting for videos of TVF and more recently getting child artists to mimic adults in the campaign for an online shopping portal. As Ahuja said, “Kids are like clay; we can mould them whichever way we want and can extract the kind of performance one wants.”
The film revolves around a young Muslim girl called Insiya (essayed by Zaira Wasim) who aspires to become a singer but faces restrictions from her conservative father. She happens to cross paths with an out-of-work musician (played by Aamir Khan) and both reclaim their rightful identity along the way.
On casting Zaira, Ahuja said, “We were told to find someone who could sing as well as act. Aamir sir had seen the work of Zaira as she had worked with him in Dangal. He suggested her, saying her age group matched Insiya’s and left her candidacy to our judgment. We auditioned her and knew in the first round itself that we had found our Insiya. She was so natural and close to what the character was. We did a test shoot and another round to see the mother-daughter relationship. Then we tested her with Tirth, who plays her onscreen friend Chintan.”
The real challenge was to cast Chintan, who had to be at par with today’s clued in youth while retaining a degree of small town innocence, faith and charm. Big city children, they felt, were already competitive by virtue of their DNA. The duo actually did a recce of Baroda as Chintan belonged to that ambient space. Banerjee and another team member visited different schools, met their drama teachers and various kids who were part of theatre clubs. When Banerjee auditioned Tirth Sharma, he knew that they had got the perfect match. “Tirth was the first kid we auditioned but we finalised him after about seven months, making sure we had tested out other aspirants on the same parameters. This boy is enthusiastic and passionate about acting which comes across in the film as well. He has an innocence and a child-like radiance which is required from the character,” said Ahuja. They further auditioned both Zaira and Tirth together to see how they took and responded to each other’s presence on screen.
What is the casting process of a childIJ “We first talk to him/her a lot to understand the space where he/she is coming from and how close he/she can come to the character. Then we brief them about their roles. We then recreate the scene the way it’s written with the co-actor. And so it goes.”
He shared that both Zaira and Insiya are confident girls, who do not judge or strategise but are just determined to go beyond their limits. In trying to go the extra mile, they can convince people to be part of their journey.
Zaira is seen in the film as a singer who can also play the guitar, an act she pulls off rather realistically. That, according to Ahuja, was the result of light musical training. “Along the way we found the right voice for Insiya’s character,” he added.
Ahuja doesn’t distinguish between his two wards. “Both the kids are equally good, It’s unfair to pick one over another. But I would like to add that Zaira was already discovered via Dangal. Tirth was the one who was found during the process of casting and filmmaking.”
He further revealed the factors a casting director keeps in mind. “Whenever we begin the process of casting, we first form an understanding of the character, script and context. Both Banerjee and I come from an acting background. I started doing theatre when I was eight. So for us the understanding required comes naturally on the basis of which we form a character sketch. Then we go to the director, tell him our viewpoint and try to understand his vision.”
They try to act as a bridge between the actor and the director. “It’s important to know how close an actor is to the character in terms of looks, presence and habits. When we find an actor with similar traits, we brief him/her about the role and see what he/she can bring to the table. First, we let the actors audition as per our vision and then ask them to enact the sequence on the basis of what they feel about the character. When an actor surprises us by staying within the parameters of acting, we have found a right fit,” said Ahuja.
But none could be as seamless as Aamir Khan is in this film. “I couldn’t believe it was him. Aamir Khan is totally opposite to the character he plays – Shakti Kumar, who is vile and loud but has a goodness hidden inside. He blended so seamlessly that his character came out naturally on screen.”
With talk about nepotism dominating every conversation on filmcraft, Ahuja doesn’t believe that the industry has double standards or that certain actors favour certain people on the basis of friendship. “Casting only happens if the actor is good and suits the role. Nobody supports a bad film or package. In the end, genuine talent does get support as was the case with the ensemble film Tu Hai Mera Sunday. Mainstream actors tweeted about it as they saw worth in it.”
On the monster called casting couch, Ahuja was rather straightforward, saying there was no space for it in the professional arena. “During our eight years in the industry, we have maintained a democratic format of working. We as a company maintain right notions of work. I feel people who have faced the casting couch should come out in the open and speak about it. As a casting director, I will be supportive of such people on the basis of the proof they have. Nobody can make or break your career on voicing the truth. In today’s times, only talent can shine through.”