The Shocking Truth About Acting Schools and Casting Directors

Victims of Bollywood Cheaters

Have you been?

Again yesterday, I got another call from a Bollywood aspiring actor, Rohan from Delhi who had paid an advance of Rs. 1.2 Lacs to, a supposedly leading acting institute who had promised him a leading role in a film. It had been 3 months and nothing had happened yet. Rohan, during his talk started crying. He had come from a farmer's family in Haryana and didn't know how to face his father now.
There are numerous incidences of this kind, I have come across. There are similar cases of heart breaking experiences with casting directors who had duped aspiring actors, who land up in Mumbai from the other towns with a dream to be an actor, without knowing what has to be done to become an actor, the kind of hard work and patience needed, money and years required and finally the luck you should have. They are also unaware of the functioning style of the film and television industry. Nor they take pains to plan their career intelligently.
The result is utter disappointment, shattered dreams and the total loss of money and time, which is gone forever.
To substantiate my views and personal experiences, I'm giving below 2 reviews and opinions 1. A leading Director/ Actor and 2. A leading Casting Director from Mumbai

"Acting Schools are money minting Rackets"

An interview with Cyrus Dastur

Enigmatic actor/director and a connoisseur of short films, with his own group - Shamiana, doing some excellent work, nurturing and providing a platform for the budding filmmakers, Cyrus Dastur shared his views about current actors.

What's your take on the acting schools, which offer instant fame to the aspiring actors, mainly coming from smaller cities?
I come from Mumbai so I can tell you that these acting schools are just money minting rackets. Again, the problem is that the youngsters too, want instant fame and believe that once they'll learn acting from a particular institute, they'll automatically start getting roles, which is not the case. Until and unless one is willing to do hard work - the hard way, there are almost negligible chances of success. People need to understand that there is no easier way to do the hard work. That is the reason we are not getting quality actors these days. In fact, I think that almost all of the actors of the current generation are quite bad, with the only exception of Ranbir Kapoor, who is best among the current lot.
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"Most Casing Folks Give The Rest a bad Name"

Casting Director Mukesh Chhabra Speaks

Casting Director Mukesh Chhabra

"The golden rule for every aspiring actor is that fame is temporary, talent is permanent. Those who aren’t really talented are the ones who fall prey to casting touts and their vicious schemes. It has been a long and arduous journey for my team to bring respect and credibility to the craft (Of casting) that had become notorious, thanks for the suffix ‘couch’. Over a 100 films later, winning prestigious awards and earning recognition from industry bigwigs was not a cakewalk. On the contrary, we had to work harder every time
a ‘casting couch’ controversy made headlines in the tabloids. It pains us when the casting process is perceived in a certain way by people who have no idea of what goes behind casting an actor for a particular role.
For us, no role is small and no film insignificant. If the makers have trusted us with the responsibility of giving them actors, we toil to find the perfect characters for a film. We are asked, “Yeh actor hai kaun? Kiska beta hai, kiska bhai, behan ya rishtedaar hai?” (Who’s this actor? Is he related to an influential person?) Such details have never mattered to us.
For us, the script is the Holy Grail and the director’s vision is our guiding light. The few known casting directors have to deal with mind-boggling pressures, but the unbridled passion we have for our craft sees us through. The pride we feel when film reviews highlight our efforts is something we strive to achieve. There is nothing we would ever bargain this for, not money or any other consideration for that matter. It is unfair to ask us about the non-existent casting couch. There is so much more to casting than just that notorious ‘couch’. Ninety per cent of casting folks give the rest a bad name. We respect all kinds of actors and have roles, even for the bad ones. We request the actors to repose faith in their talent and in us, because when the role suits them, their phone will ring. After that it is your luck and hard work that will determine your career. No point in first willing to compromise and then crying foul.
In a digital era, your talent can’t go unnoticed. Why meet shady people who have nothing to offer?
On a daily average, we meet 50-oddly earnest and passionate actors, but there are only a handful of films being made at a given time. So, it is impossible that everybody gets meaty roles in films that we cast for.
The keywords are talent, patience and perseverance. The industry is going through a Renaissance and there will be roles for all the good actors. If you cross the road when you aren’t supposed to, you can’t blame anybody for your accident. While you are waiting for your chance to be in front of the camera, evolve as a human being, watch good films, read good books and when it is your turn, show us that we were right when we decided to call you for the audition."
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Posted 19-Mar-2014

The Cheat Casting Director

Producer Anurag Kashyap (Udaan, Gangs of Wasseypur, The Lunchbox and many more) 

Producer, Director Anurag Kashyap

The Phantom Films, producers of Anurag Kashyap's "Bombay Velvet", have filed a complaint with the Versova police in Mumbai against one Varun Gupta for duping aspiring actors as the casting director of the film.
The accused was apparently sending messages to girls of small towns, inviting them to send their portfolios for the casting of the second female lead in the film. According to the message circulated by Gupta, an audition was to be held in Delhi on September 10 and in Mumbai on September 16 for the same. Read more..
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Aspiring Actors! Beware Of Casting Couch And Sex in Mumbai

Sarah Jane Dias stands tall at 5 feet 9 inches. She is smart, witty, beautiful and has an hourglass figure. The dusky beauty queen, who started out as a VJ, now models and acts in the occasional movie

"I have faced the horror of casting couch situation": Sarah-Jane Dias

"I faced quite a bit of the casting couch situation. I've never really discussed it up until this very conversation..." she continued (Source: This)

Here is another on the casting couch...

The sordid Simran Sood-Vijay Palande episode has brought Bollywood's infamous casting couch under the scanner yet again. While some say that many newcomers continue to encounter it, others maintain that this now takes place more in television and B-grade cinema.

The 'couch' process starts much before an aspirant comes face-to-face with a director or a producer. Toots, who claim direct access to the big boys of Bollywood, accost newcomers outside production houses and then it may be several rounds before the starlet finally gets to meet the person/s who will be deciding on casting her.

Of course, there are directors who defend "genuine" producers, but even they agree that Andheri's Lokhandwala is perhaps the epicenter of Bollywood's casting couch. Even men are not safe. Actor Ranveer Singh is one who "almost fell into the casting couch" during his early days of struggle when he was targeted by a producer, surprisingly known to be a "thorough gentleman".

But the casting couch is far more prevalent in the television industry where actors find themselves dropped from entire episodes if they do not agree to oblige. Stories of youngsters getting exploited-be it for a roof over their heads or a two-bit role in a film - are all over Lokhandwala.

Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, known for thought-provoking films such as Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, rubbishes talk that the casting couch is rampant. "The Lokhandwala film industry has been infiltrated by fly-by-night producers who exploit newcomers," he says. The real tinsel town, in contrast, has corporate funding, image makeovers, and branding exercises. "The casting couch may be happening in the B-grade industry, not in places where serious cinema is happening," says Mishra, adding that young filmmakers don't exactly need some couch to satisfy their "needs".

Actor Ranveer Singh of Band Baaja Baaraat fame concurs. He talks of how he was propositioned. "A coordinator called me for an audition where three gentlemen directly asked for favors. They kept using words like darling, tu toh bada sexy hai." After rushing out, he did a bit of sleuthing to find out about the coordinator. "No one seemed to know this coordinator. A friend told me that such incidents usually happened in coffee shops, where boys or girls are asked to come to the washroom," adds Ranveer.

The casting couch happens at a lower level, he says. "The stakes are too high for big production houses and they can't jeopardize their image by indulging in such acts."

But ask any struggler in Bollywood and he or she will talk about touts claiming to be casting directors and coordinators moving around in offices of production houses. An old-timer says, "There was a time when this director was making a dozen films in a year and almost every aspiring actor, actress or writer came knocking at his door. Casting coordinators and assistant directors would take advantage of them. They would openly tell the newcomers we will get you a role in the film, but you will have to compromise. Some did manage to get work, but mostly failed, despite the barter."

There have been several instances in the recent past where starlets have leveled charges against some known directors. Casting director Abhijit Singh says, "It may be happening at the assistant director and coordinator level and in the case of smaller films. Most of the big production houses hire character actors through agencies and the main actors deal with them directly. There is a chance if the director likes someone, then he does the deal directly."

Asked if the allegations of the casting couch were being made by starlets to blackmail filmmakers, Mishra says, "The term is used by those who fail. I have only one suggestion to make to anyone who is seriously aspiring to make it in the film industry: if suggestions are made, just slap the person." But seniors insist that casting couch always existed over the years and it has only changed forms. It is said that quite a few top actors and actresses too have been exploited in the past. A source says, "A top director stopped shooting his film after the first schedule and said he would resume shooting only if the lead actress visited him at his Madh Island bungalow. The actress didn't have any choice but to go. Today she is a big star."
Source:This