Mar 16, 2026 9:27am IST
Indian Casting Directors Emphasize Inclusion of ‘Best Casting’ category in Awards after ‘One Battle After Another’ Creates History at Oscars
The 98th Academy Awards took place today and this year, the Academy introduced the Best Casting category, where the work of casting directors was honored. “One Battle After Another” made history as the first winner of this category. Variety India reached out to Indian casting directors for their take on the Oscars introducing this category and why this essential yet underappreciated department has yet to find its recognition in Indian cinema.
Not taken seriously, earlier
Filmmaker Rohan Mapuskar, also the casting director for “3 Idiots,” “Ventilator” and the upcoming “Raja Shivaji,” says this department was not taken seriously earlier.
He says that this department definitely deserves awards because the casting person is the ‘half director’ of the film and shares, “Not just casting, all departments in films should get an award. It gives you a sense of achievement and pushes you to do even better. I remember it was ‘Rang De Basanti,’ due to which the term ‘casting director’ got noticed in India. The person who does the casting is half the director. When we direct a film, we think about every permutation and combination. The same way, when we are casting, we read the character and think about which actor fits the bill. We are trying to direct a person, audition him and present him. These things matter a lot. So, I do feel there should be an award for the Best Casting Director.”
Related Stories
Casting director Gautam Kishanchandani, the man behind movies like “Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai,” “Saand Ki Aankh” and others, echoes the sentiments of Mapuskar and says the “fraternity didn’t realize the importance of casting and it’s only recent that they started recognizing the casting.”
He opines that the Best Casting category should be included in Indian awards ceremonies, as casting directors contribute to the success of the film. “Casting directors have given the industry a lot of new actors and new talents. So yes, I think it does make sense. You are doing a specialized job. You're providing the cast for a film and when the cast performs well together, it shows on screen and contributes to the success of the film. So yeah, casting should be recognized,” explains Gautam.
Actor and casting director Abhishek Banerjee, who did casting for “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha,” “OK Jaanu” and “Street Dancer 3D” among others, says award organizers should be asked why the category for Best Casting Director doesn’t exist. “I think for the longest time, every award organization thought that selecting talent is not a talent. I think that must be the reason and now they are probably opening up to the fact that to have an eye to pick talent is a talent in itself. Half the time, films don't work because of wrong casting. That's why some projects don't appeal to you which might have appealed to you on paper. I think that must be the the epiphany that’s happened and that's why the Academy came out with this award category,” he says.
Banerjee says that since the Oscars have introduced this category, Indian awards will soon follow the trend. “If we have multiple categories for best actor and best actress, most impactful, most enigmatic and performance of the year, etc and so many award functions to give away such awards, we can definitely include a casting award in every award ceremony. And it will happen now that the Oscars have done it, I'm sure that everybody is going to follow,” asserts Abhishek.
Dhurandhar’: Best Casting
When questioned, which film deserves the best casting director award, Rohan and Abhishek quickly reply, “Dhurandhar,” with the latter adding “Kohrra” in the OTT category. On the other hand, Gautam chooses Farhan Akhtar’s “Luck By Chance” and calls it ‘a very good example of great casting.’
Fav films
Rohan picks “Ventilator,” “Aatmapamphlet” and “Raja Shivaji” as his favourite films, which make him proud as a casting director.
For Gautam, it was his first film as a casting director, “Black Friday.” “It was an incredible experience. It was a special film. It was a great learning experience and was just beautiful. Anurag (Kashyap) gave a lot of freedom. And it was my first proper film. That was the time when we were auditioning theater actors. Before that, till the 90s, I think, barring ‘Satya’ or ‘Bandit Queen,’ mainstream films were not looking for new faces. So, for us, it was very liberating,” shares Kishanchandani.
Abhishek Banerjee chose his first film, “No One Killed Jessica” and says, “My first film in Bombay that I'm very proud of because we cast practically the entire Delhi theatre circuit. And there are so many fresh faces. I always believe that casting is a great medium to introduce fresh faces to the industry. And we did that in ‘No One Kill Jessica.’ I think that's my favourite film that we cast for. Of course, there are many we did over the years, but the first is always the first.”
Comments are moderated. They may be edited for clarity and reprinting in whole or in part in Variety publications.