Sep 22, 2026 10:00pm IST
Munawar Faruqui: ‘If Cinema Is Business Then There’s Nothing Wrong With Casting an Influencer Who Is Easy to Sell’ (EXCLUSIVE)
As social media creators increasingly cross over into films and OTT, the question of whether follower count is becoming a factor in casting has sparked debate within the acting fraternity. Munawar Faruqui, who is himself making the transition into acting after building a massive audience through comedy and reality television, believes the conversation needs to account for the business realities of entertainment as well as the work that goes into building an audience.
Speaking to Variety India, Munawar acknowledges that casting influencers over actors is “very debatable,” but argues that filmmakers and producers cannot ignore the commercial value of an established digital audience.
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“When you study business, you are taught that any businessman will want to remain profitable. There are many people who want to make movies; they don’t mind who’s in the film. They want great actors, they want good actors. But at the same time, there is a market, right? There is business too,” he says.
“Now, you may have taken a very good actor, and that actor may be excellent, and people may want to watch him and give him a chance. He may be a fantastic actor. Maybe his time will come five years from now, and he will become a very big hero. But is anyone ready to put money on him?” Munawar adds.
He believes the same business logic can explain why an influencer with millions of followers can get a casting call. “If cinema is a business, then there is nothing wrong with people thinking like a business. If they think, ‘We have to choose an artist or an influencer who has more face value, who is easy to sell, who perhaps can be easily marketed,’ then there is nothing wrong with that,” he says.
Munawar also believes influencers’ success should not be dismissed simply because their journey is different from that of trained actors. “Even for those three or four million followers, that creator would have worked extremely hard. They may have made 100 reels, but behind those 100 reels, they may have deleted 500 reels. They earned those followers through hard work,” he opines.
He further challenges the notion that formal preparation automatically makes an actor more deserving of an opportunity. “You may have taken vocal training, acting classes, you go to the gym, follow your diet, know how to sing, dance, you know many things that are necessary for acting, and you think, ‘I should be the one who gets it.’ That approach is wrong.”
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He adds, “Whatever hard work you have done for acting, this person has done the same kind of hard work to build followers. You learned dance; this person didn’t know how to dance, but they still do it. So you’ve all put in hard work. There is hard work on both sides.”
According to Munawar, building a following of three or four million people does not happen by accident. “Three or four million followers don’t just happen. The whole world is creating content. Some people reach three or four million, some don’t. Every person has worked hard in their own way,” he says.
He also points to the tangible impact influencers can have through their digital audiences. “They run their homes through social media, provided for their parents, bought small cars, phones, built homes, bought homes and they have achieved all of that through social media. So I don’t think that is wrong, and a hard-working actor isn’t wrong either,” he says.
Ultimately, Munawar believes both sides need patience rather than resentment. “You just have to keep your intentions clear and have patience. Good actors become successful anyway,” he says.
He also argues that the audience ultimately decides who succeeds. “This industry isn’t really about being underrated or overrated. The audience is smart. If you’re not good enough, step aside and let the good ones come in. Good people will be appreciated and liked.”
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