Casting director Adityoa Suranna has been in the industry for 11 years now and is known for casting in major projects like Abhay, Criminal Justice, Baarish, The Office and many others on the OTT platform. Suranna has also worked for daily soaps, casting actors in Beyhadh S2, Diya Aur Baati Hum, Barrister Babu and others. He is credited to have cast Arjun Rampal as a defence lawyer in the upcoming film Nail Polish and here, he talks about his process of casting, the boom of the digital platform and more. Excerpts:
What is it about Arjun Rampal that made you cast him for Nail Polish?
The character demanded an actor who is a complete charmer and has a strong personality that can woo any girl. As a casting director, I knew an actor like Arjun Rampal, who is one of the finest looking men, would do justice to the character.
Who were the other names in your list?
Naming other actors were Akshay Khanna, Rahul Bose and Rahul Bhatt.
What is it that you keep in mind while casting a star since they play a huge part in the film?
The role of a casting director is to understand the skin of the character and unless I don't believe in that actor I won't push for the actor to the producers. The ensemble cast in any project be it a daily soap, a web series or a film plays one of the pivotal roles as they will be the storytellers. One thing which is the most important in an actor is how passionate he/she is about the craft.
We see a lot of lesser-known faces making it big on the new platforms. Is the wide choice of available talent good news for casting directors?
The digital boom has created opportunities not only for actors but filmmakers and content creators as well. Many times a character demands of a lesser-known face since a well-known name has already created an image to which later the audience does not relate to in a different shade. Also, a fresh story does well with a fresh face which brings a lot more on the table since the actor can be moulded the way the story demands. Having more options of actors is good news since many would be open to what a script demands for and many won't so having more choices has no disadvantages to us.
With web platforms giving more air space to even the smallest of actors, has that affected casting?
It is a win-win situation since actors are getting more work and from the smallest one who receives appreciation today from the audience motivates them. There is no harm unless a team works in sync and is cooperative in the end.
What are the other projects that you are working on?
Currently, I am working on a short film for festivals and a period love story for Sony Television. Both the projects are work in process and shall be out soon.