The“one thing the casting department is lacking is that I think they're not getting the due credit they deserve in terms of the industry.” – Kunal M Shah

Casting director Kunal M Shah has had a very eventful journey - from being a journalist to being given a chance by Vikram Bhatt to be a casting director. He candidly admits his journey started from zero but now he’s inching towards getting better and better in his craft. In a hard-hitting interview with Sumita Chakraborty, Kunal M Shah demands to know why casting directors are not given their dues in the industry?

- Sumita Chakraborty

Kunal, the casting department has become a very important department globally. However, it is comparatively a new segment in our Hindi film industry. as perhaps 5 to 10 years ago, it was very disorganized but over the last few years, it started becoming more professional.

I think casting has become one of the most important technical departments of filmmaking or for a web show. It is definitely not disorganized at all any more. I know a few years back, it was still the assistant directors who would cast and call actors and there was no designation as “casting director” as such. But I think a few films like Gangs of Wasseypur, Chak De India or Madras Cafe have set the tone for the right characters to be cast and the right actors to be cast for a particular character. I think that has suddenly made people open up their eyes. Even web-series like Pataal Lok, Delhi Crime or even a Made in Heaven to an extent have initiated this change to get the right actor for a character. People have finally sat up and taken notice that oh yes, this guy fits in perfectly. The casting has been perfect. And so the casting department has come into the spotlight.

…And now with the web series also coming in, there must be a lot of opportunities for newer faces, right? So, is it more difficult to put new faces to characters or known faces?