'Asked Me To Cry In Middle Of Busy Restaurant': Mirzapur Fame Isha Talwar Recalls 'Weird' Audition With YRF's Shanoo Sharma, Says It Shattered Her Confidence

Actress Isha Talwar, known for projects like Article 15 and Mirzapur, recalled an incident when she went to meet YRF's casting director Shanoo Sharma for an audition and as a part of it, the latter asked the former to start crying in the middle of a working restaurant. Isha said that she found it "weird" and backed out, but the incident shattered her confidence.

Isha narrated her story in the comments section of a publication's post about Shanoo. "When I started auditioning for roles with Shanoo, I was told to perform a scene at a restaurant called Mia Cucina in Versova, Bombay... a CRYING scene in the middle of a busy working restaurant with customers dining next to my table. I was told I should have no inhibitions as an actor and hence, I should be able to do a crying scene with Shanoo sitting in front of me and some of her assistants (sic)," she recalled.

She continued, "It was such a confusing/weird ask. It shattered my confidence as a young girl in films... I couldn’t understand why a senior casting director needed to put a young girl through this? It’s only fair that an actor is given a good casting office space to be able to audition in, or if you want to do a real location then hire a spot, pay for it and audition! (sic)."

"Anyway just putting this story a decade later for all the newcomers to tell you that feel no pressure... I do remember saying I can’t do it and of course I never got the role, but at least I didn't give in to the weird ask and surely dint cry at a restaurant for a role! #Dignityfirstalways (sic)," Isha concluded.

Not just Isha, but a Kannada actress too shared her story of a weird audition with Shanoo. Sandalwood actress Nidhi Subbaiah commented, "Shanoo is sweet but I’m not sure of her casting process. Was shunned and made fun of by her assistants when I’d gone for my first audition (sic)."

"They kept giggling about how different photos are from reality while pointing at a miss india who was with me for that audition (sic)," she added.

Shanoo is yet to respond to the claims.

For those unversed, Shanoo is known to have launched some of the biggest names in Bollywood, including Ranveer Singh, Bhumi Pednekar, and very recently, Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda in Saiyaara.