Known for his cinematic brilliance, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali’s latest offering Amar Singh Chamkila created a buzz around for its perfect casting, be it the lead characters Chamkila (Diljit Dosanjh) and Amarjot (Parineeti. Chopra) or the ensemble cast. The Free Press Journal caught up with the casting director Mukesh Chhabra and actor Anjum Batra, who played Tikki, Chamkila’s closest friend for an exclusive chat, where they discussed the process of reliving Imtiaz’s vision on-screen.
Casting maverick Mukesh Chhabra reacts on how much he was involved in the process of casting the primary and secondary characters in a film like Chamkila.
"There has always been a mutual understanding between me and Imtiaz since I had cast for the first Love Aaj Kal so I kind of know what kind of actors he likes to work with and who all will fit in for the ensemble cast. Since Chamkila is a biographical representation, I had face references, pictures, videos to recreate the magic. Such a process is difficult and easy simultaneously. Casting is a process that varies from projects to directors. Since I am from Punjab, I understand the casting process in a better way since the film is set there,"he explains.
It is a well-known fact that producers shape projects and cast the lead actors on the basis of their market value, networking and personal relationships but Mukesh denies and claims that being a casting head on the project, his involvement in casting for primary cast is huge besides the secondary and tertiary ones.
"My involvement in the process starts from day one. There are projects like Laila Majnu, Scam etc. that are headlined by fresh faces. Even if a producer had decided a star verbally or mentally, I still sit with the team and discuss who we should cast categorically. I am a part of every discussion and it is a great achievement. It is a great change,' he states.
