Charming, witty and smart…Adityoa Suranna has been a Casting Director for seven years in the television industry. Currently working with Fireworks Productions, he handles casting for CID (Sony Entertainment Television), Hum Ne Li Hai Shapath (Life OK) and Gutur Gu (SAB TV). In conversation with Tellychakkar.com, he unveiled some of the highs and lows he went through during his journey as a Casting Director. Read on… Tell us something about yourself… I came to Mumbai in the year 2007 and started working with Fireworks Productions in the casting department for CID (Sony Entertainment Television), Hum Ne Li Hai Shapath (Life OK) and Gutur Gu (SAB TV). Prior to that, I was freelancing as a Casting Director for many shows including Chhal-Sheh Aur Maat (Colors). Currently, I am on a permanent contract with Fireworks Productions but I freelance too if needed. My last project as a freelancer was to get the casting right for Yeh Hai Aashiqui which will be aired soon on Bindass. Over the years, how have you evolved as a Casting Director? Basically, I always dreamt of pursuing my career as a Casting Director as I had the knack for it. I had a friend who is an ad film maker so I joined him as a Production Assistant. The ad agency also had a separate casting agency and I gained some experience working there, post which I found my way to enter mainline casting through Fireworks Productions. What qualities you look in an actor while casting? There are a lot of actors who look good but are weak when it comes to acting. Likewise, there are many actors who are strong on performance aspects, but lack in good looks. At present, most shows adhere to episodic format and for such shows we need actors who are more realistic when it comes to showing their skills irrespective of their looks. I would like to advise all actors who are new in the industry to take up shows like CID and Hum Ne Li Hai Shapath as it would enhance their acting skill and they will learn to give variation to roles. Which show in your opinion has the best casting today? Apna baccha toh sabhi ko bhata hai! Smiles….So it would definitely be CID and Hum Ne Li Hai Shapath. Apart from that I would say Crime Patrol. Amongst the daily soaps, I think Diya Aur Baati Hum has a very good script and casting. We have all heard about the term casting couch. Is it still prevalent in the industry? Casting couch is prevalent in all industries. But it gets highlighted more in the glamour industry. There are good and bad people everywhere. Earlier, there were not many options available to actors, so the dark corners were more evident. But now, there are a host of options available where actors can showcase their talent, with the opening up of the market resulting in so many channels and shows in function. Moreover, it is more about competition between the actors. If actors do not sound desperate for a role and be patient then even those who think perverse would think twice before making a move. In your view, do casting directors get their due respect? Two years ago, we never did. Executive Producers and Assistant Directors chose actors as per what they felt right. But as of today, we are respected, as people have started understanding the need and importance of professional casting. What is more important? Casting or script? Both go hand-in-hand. You need to have a good cast to attract fans for viewership and to keep them hooked you need to have a strong script. What’s your personal choice? Fresh or veteran actors? Depends. Veteran actors come with an image which is set in the audiences’ minds. So if you have a role which fits the actor it’s good. But otherwise definitely fresh actors. If you were not a casting director, what would you be? May be into production (laughs)….but I would definitely stick around in this industry. Please share the highlight points of your shows… Okay as for Shapath, I don’t think people even knew about this serial earlier. But it has undergone a lot of change and has established itself as a supernatural scientific show. It has changed drastically, for good, over the period of time. CID has been a benchmark show for 17 years. And unlike other serials we have always maintained not to show visuals of violent scenes and maintain it as a pure entertainment based show and lay importance to the development of characters. With Gutur Gu, it is a first silent show in India and entered the Limca Book of Records. When you do not have dialogue you need to have an excellent script and actors who can make people laugh.