Beware Actors For Bollywood! Don't Get Duped By Crooked Casting Directors- A TRUE STORY

Producer Vipul Shah with Akshay Kumar on set of Singh is Kinng

Aashin, EP to Vipul Shah

Two days ago, three models and a casting director were having an animated conversation at a Mumbai cafe.
The models, two men and a woman were all ears as the man, in his 30s and casually dressed, held forth about his contacts in the film industry.
He inquired about their portfolios before claiming that he casts for prominent producers of the industry including Karan Johar, Raju Hirani, Vipul Shah and many others. The big names caught the attention of another group sitting on the next table.

One of them was Aashin Shah, Executive Producer to Vipul Shah, a leading Bollywppd producer (Action replay, Nameste London,London Dreams, Singh is Kinng and many more)  for the past seven years.

Aashin told Mirror, “When he mentioned sir’s name, I decided to follow the conversation. He told the other three people that it was he who introduced Vidyut Jamwal to Vipul Shah.  He was dropping big names and because it was a small coffee shop, it was not really hard to overhear the conversation. He was obviously a con man.” 

Meanwhile, one of the models requested him to set up a meeting with production houses and it was then that the man demanded Rs 20,000 from each of them.

Aashin then decided to call the poser’s bluff and he along with one of his friends joined the conversation by posing as aspiring actors.

“My friend told him that he desperately wants to appear in a film, even if it is part of a crowd scene. He told him that he needs a portfolio, which will cost Rs15,000. Then I walked up to the table and told him that I have done a lot of theatre in the past and also assisted Vipul Shah,” recalled Aashin.

The impostor kept a blank face and replied, “I don’t deal with assistants, I deal directly with Vipul.” When the man demanded money from Aashin and his friend, the Executive Producer (Aashim) put out his visiting card on the table!

The move unnerved the man and when Aashin confronted him he tried to run out of the café. But the models chased him down and when caught, he apologised in tears and returned the money he took from them.

After much pleading, the man was let off with a warning. When contacted producer Vipul Shah offered a word of advice, “It is becoming a rampant practice and it is saddening because these men give the industry a bad name. I want all newcomers to be very careful as so many people give away their hard-earned money to these frauds.”
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