Casting directors play a huge role in the entertainment industry. Sonu Singh Rajput is one such name to reckon with having been in the industry for a few years now. He has worked in projects like Netflix’s Ray and Prayag Raj with Mukesh Tiwari, Adhyanan Suman, Deepshikha Nagpal, Vikram Kochar, Deepraj Rana, Garima Hain, Smita Sharan and Mansi Srivastava. Speaking about his journey Sonu says, ”It has been a roller coaster ride but I enjoyed every phase of it. I joined as an intern and through my hardwork, ability and God’s grace, within just 2 years I became the casting head. I think challenges come in everyone’s life and how you deal with it makes you stronger or weaker. Whenever I remember my struggle, I have tears in my eyes but at the same time I feel proud of myself.” He also adds,” We come from a society where people like to pursue careers corporates or public sector but i always wanted to do something different. Fortunately, I came to Mumbai to help my friend and find a job in the banking sector as I was doing that in Delhi. But I did not see any scope for me. So, one of my friends suggested taking a shot at casting. I agreed and moved forward. I have faith in myself. The most challenging part of this work is understanding the writer’s point of view and finding the actors who will fit the bill.”
So according to you how is casting different for TV shows from music videos? “Both have their individual demands. For television, casting should be more focused on acting skills and the look of that character. Dialogue delivery plays a key role. Whereas in music videos, the number of actors are less and we focus more on the character’s look. Duration of tv show is long so while casting someone we have to make sure that particular actor should be able to hold that character.”
Unfortunately, the word casting couch is very common in the industry what is your point of view? “Life is made of three elements.. positive, negative and neutral. There are negative elements in cinema or tv industry also but I believe, it’s totally an Individual’s choice which element he or she wants to choose. I believe in hard work and choose positivity.” Sonu is also opening his own production house and says,” I never thought of becoming a producer until the day I entered into casting. Now it is my dream.”
He further adds, “Actors like Anup Soni and Mrunal Jain are very good and seasoned artists to work with. When you are a good actor as well as a good human being you will get work sooner or later that’s what I tell all aspiring actors”
