Casting director Mukesh Chhabra said that there are times when he has questioned his profession, especially when he witnesses unpardonable insensitivity and desperation in those who want to become actors. Chhabra, who has cast some of the biggest films in Hindi cinema, revealed that doctors have pitched their children to him, while he was looking after his mother in the ICU.
The casting director, who has worked with names like Anurag Kashyap, Rajkumar Hirani, Imtiaz Ali, Nitesh Tiwari, Kabir Khan and collaborated with stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, and Ranbir Kapoor, among others, recalled that during the COVID pandemic, his mother was in the ICU for two months. “There, I saw all kinds of doctors. The moment they would know who I am, they would become sweeter,” he said in an interview with Neelesh Misra, calling it “the most painful moment of my life.”
“I was in the ICU, looking after my mother, dealing with so much in my life and aap mujhe side pe leke jaa ke bol rahe ho, ‘I know who you are, you work in films right? Even my son wants to be an actor.’ I am thinking, you are a doctor, my mother is in the ICU, and you are asking me this?”
Chhabra said the desire to become an actor is so strong in some people that no matter what the circumstance, they don’t miss an opportunity to pitch themselves. The casting director said it wasn’t just once that he got a casting pitch in the hospital, and revealed that it happened “at least 20-30 times, through different people.” He added, “In a Mumbai hospital, people of the city would come, which means industry people as well. So, even there, this (pitching to be cast) was happening. Meri zindagi ka sabse bada dukh chal raha tha aur aap… not here. You meet me anywhere and I talk to you, give you my number, my office ID — but please not in the hospital. One day, back then, I felt, ‘Man, what is this job?'”
Chhabra also revealed how he once saw an actor networking at a funeral, where industry bigwigs were present. Chhabra recalled being present at the funeral when an actor greeted him, and then dropped the pretense: “Sir I am actor, aap kab free ho, main kab mil sakta hu?”
“I gave him a look and then I saw him going to Sudhir Mishra, whose look instantly said, ‘Paas he mat aana.’ Then I saw him talking to other people, who were producers, saying, ‘Sir when can I come and meet you?’ I don’t get this desperation,” he added.
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