Best known for his work in projects like Mitron , Muthoon, Aisha , Avrodh, Bloody Brothers and The Broken News; Zwigato casting director Sunny Dagar is on cloud nine these days. The casting director believes he has played an integral part in choosing actors who were able to leave a mark in the film and connect with the audience.
In an interview with International Business Times, India, Sunny Dagar reveals his experience of working with Nandita Das, Satish Kaushik; casting process and how Kapil and Shahana were cast for the role.
What was the brief given to you for casting for Kapil and Shabana's characters in the film?
Nandita Das was very clear from day one on what she wanted. It was her passion and clarity that made me work on the film so passionately. She wanted this movie to be around the reality of common people hence she told us that the cast should be realistic for the audience to easily relate themselves to.
Was Kapil the first choice that came to your mind? Who were the others you thought could ace the role too?
As we know, Nandita always comes up with something extraordinary and this movie was around ordinary people. It was her vision to make this movie more heart touching for the audience and she wanted someone who knows how to win the hearts of audience. It didn't take us long to decide who better than Kapil Sharma to ace this role.
Same for Shahana Goswami? What made you choose her despite her not being in the limelight in the last few years?
See, there is no matching Shahana's hard work and versatility. Her approach with different characters and how she tries to reach the depth of her characters is commendable. She has proved her versatility time and again with different roles. In Zwigato too, Goswami has done a fabulous job. Right from the get go, we mutually agreed on these two names and went ahead.
How do you approach the process of casting for a film? Take us through the whole process.
For a casting director, it takes several readings of the script, with and without the team. This helps us in understanding the vision of the director and collaborate it with what the script demands. Our first line of action is always to make sure that whosoever we cast, adds to and enriches the project. Our aim is always to choose someone you can't imagine the movie without.
Me and my team sit together, discuss and decode the character and then we start looking out for actors. Just not the script, we also have to consider the physical aspect of the character that is demanded. Sometimes it gets very tough to find the actor that we are looking for, then we get back to the basics of auditioning. But, all in all, every project brings a lot of excitement and new learning along with it.
Tell us about the casting for Satish Kaushik's Kaagaz 2? What were the characters you were looking for?
The casting for Kaagaz 2 was a whole new experience as me and my team had to cast the lead character in the movie. It was more of a responsibility than a job for us. I hope we have done justice to Satish Kaushik ji's vision. He always treated me as family and over the period, I learnt a lot from him.
