Exclusive! Mukesh Chhabra: No one wanted to be a part of Delhi Crime and The Family Man initially

Many actors tend to feel stuck with a certain onscreen image, and almost everyone fears getting typecast. We recently spoke to casting director Mukesh Chhabra about this, who is also a filmmaker and actor. He was last seen in the web series Kafas, in which he plays a journalist. 

Saying that the conversation about being typecast needs to change, Mukesh told OTTplay, "I don't think that actors are getting typecast as much as they used to. As a casting director, I give every talented actor a range of opportunities, which is what they rightfully deserve. So, these days, when some actor comes to me and says, 'Sir, main typecast nahi hona chahta hoon', I tell them, 'Bhai, pehle cast to ho ja' (laughs)."

Giving examples from the past, Mukesh added, "Earlier, a talent like Pankaj Tripati would get noticed for his small comical scenes, until he did a Chillar Party. After that, he was cast in Gangs Of Wasseypur in a completely different role. People lauded him for playing a villain. Then he played another completely different role in Masaan, in which his character had a great sense of humour. After that, he acted in Bareilly Ki Barfi and Mirzapur. He played a father in both those films, but look at his range as an actor. So, what I am trying to say is that if you are talented, you can play any kind of role. Pankaj is one such talent."

What comes as a surprise is that Mukesh said that initially, Shefali Shah and Manoj Bajpayee were not interested in being a part of Delhi Crime and The Family Man, respectively. "When we were casting for Delhi Crime, the part of DCP Vartika Chaturvedi was very crucial, and we were running after some actors. Initially, no one showed interest because (director) Richie Mehta was not as popular with Bollywood actors as he is today. I offered that role to 10 people, and everyone turned me down. The same thing happened with The Family Man. People thought that it was an OTT project, so it might not be big. At the time, the OTT market was just picking up."

Mukesh is credited with discovering actors for Bollywood projects like Dangal, Tamasha, Haider, Shahid, and Tarla, as well as for web series like Maharani, The Night Manager, and Scoop. 

His latest outing as an actor, Kafas, is available to stream on SonyLIV.