Top 7 Casting Directors with Contact Email of 5 to Help You

Clockwise: Shanoo Sharma, Atul Mongia, Shruti Mahajan, Mukesh Chhabra, Honey Trehan, Vicky Sidana, Nandini Shrikent

Email contact at the bottom

Wanna Make Your Bollywood Dreams Come True?

They are known as casting directors or star makers who are responsible for selecting or short listing actors for specific characters from the script of a film, TV serial or commercial ad.
Now a day, these guys are highly talented and play a significant role in the film making process by helping to identify good actors with whom largely depends the success of a film, a serial or a commercial ad. New successful actors like Ranveer Singh and Parineeti Chopra vouch for the vision and talent of these casting directors.

What to Expect?

When you're called in for an acting audition, the people present at the audition will include you, the casting director, and maybe a handful of other complete strangers. Some of these other people may be the producer, a camera operator (if they're taping the auditions), the casting director's bored friend or relative, a representative from the advertiser (in the case of a commercial audition), or a dance choreographer or musical director (in the case of a musical).

By the time it's your turn to audition, the casting director has probably seen hundreds of other people ahead of you, which means the casting director and anyone else in the room is likely to be tired, bored, and irritable. Make the director's job easy and you increase your chances of having a successful audition. Make the job harder (by not being ready, talking too much, and so on) and you may seriously kill any chances of getting any role.

Take care! Top 3 Tips!

1. Memorize your line perfectly

To an extent that you don't have to think about lines anymore.

2. Mind your auditioning manners

A lack of courtesy shows disrespect, no matter where you are in life
Never touch the casting director or any of his or her possessions, such as the notepad, laptop computer, food, and such. Doing so is rude and definitely works against you.

3. How to enter and exit

Enter smiling. Mildly nod or wish elegantly
Complete your performance, wait for about half or a minute, listen if they give any comment or instructions, nod smilingly, thank them and leave elegantly.
Well, this is in a nutshell.

Here are 7 of the top most casting directors of Bollywood who have become a celebrity in their own right with their right actor pick up ability:

1. Shanoo Sharma

Star finds: Ranveer Singh, Parineeti Chopra, Arjun Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar, Bhumi Pednekar

Arguably the biggest name in the casting circuit of Bollywood, Shanoo Sharma is the casting director of Yash Raj Films and has blockbusters like Dhoom 3, Jab Tak Hai Jaan,Ek Tha Tiger, My Name is Khan, Band Baja Baaraat etc to her credit. Sharma's big break came in the form of Karan Johar's 2009 thriller Kurbaan which got her noticed after she handled a celebrity star cast beautifully.
A decade into the business, Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor are considered to be her biggest draws and the young stars have publicly gone on record to say that they owe their careers to Shanoo!
Contact details: casting@yashrajfilms.com
Facebook page for message: https://www.facebook.com/Shanoo-YRFcasting-201876266557914

2. Atul Mongia

It was his interest in film making that eventually helped Mongia cast and deal with actors better. Post his teaching stint at the renowned Barry John School of Acting in New Delhi, Atul moved to Mumbai and got busy training actors for Dibakar Banerjee's relatively fresh cast in Love Sex Aur Dhoka.And that's how he was handed over the responsibility of finding actors for films.
Contact details: atulcasting@gmail.com
Facebook page for message: https://www.facebook.com/atul.mongia.1

3. Shruti Mahajan

Chakravyuh, Ram Leela, Mary Kom and Finding Fanny are some noted milestones in Shruti's portfolio as a casting director which have sealed her career in the big league. And with plum upcoming projects like Bajirao Mastani, Gangajaal 2 and AR Murugadoss's next, the future looks promising for this girl.
Contact details: shrutimcasting@gmail.com
Facebook page for message: https://www.facebook.com/shruti.mahajan.5855

4. Mukesh Chhabra

Star finds: Rajkummar Rao, Sushant Singh Rajput and Amit Sadh

A casting director by a stroke of luck, Mukesh Chhabra, also lovingly known as Casting Chhabra, is another name deeply respected in the industry. His journey, which began accidentally by casually helping Vishal Bhardwaj cast kids, saw him eventually launch big names like Rajkummar Rao, Sushant Singh Rajput and Amit Sadh.
Chhabra got his first big break with Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal but it was his immaculate casting in Anurag Kashyap's Gangs Of Wasseypur that made him a name to reckon with. Presently casting for Aamir Khan's upcoming wrestling film Dangal, Chhabra has no reservations in helping his friends within the industry with casting.
Contact details (Address): Bunglow No 160, J P Road, Andheri West, Mumbai - 400058, Aaram Nager, Part 2
Send portfolio: casting@mccc.in

5. Honey Trehan

Another theatre product from Delhi, Honey Trehan worked as a stage director in New Delhi. However, his chance meeting with Vishal Bhardwaj in Mumbai changed the course of his career. Trehan worked as an assistant director in Bhardwaj's Makdee and later showed interest in getting actors for Bhardwaj's movies. That is how Maqbool, Omkaraand Kaminey happened and there was no looking back for Trehan.
Trehan's first independent assignment was Aamir Khan's production, Delhi Belly. However, it was his dream to cast for Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Ritesh Sidhwani, which also happened with the time. Today, Trehan is content with the way his career has shaped up and feels there is plenty of scope for casting directors in the industry
You can tweet to Honey Trehan: https://twitter.com/HoneyTrehan
Facebook page for message: https://www.facebook.com/honey.trehan.3

6. Vicky Sidana

Star finds: Kartik Tiwari, Divyendu Sharma and Rayo Bakhrita

Vicky Sidana struck gold after his casting for Pyaar Ka Punchnama hit the bull's eye! While life got tedious after the movie, the challenges of his job have always excited him. Sidana has been a part of marathon auditioning processes to filter people for Special 26and Pyaar Ka Punchnama and has only gotten better. And with Bodyguard and Baby also to his credit, Sidana has rapidly found a footing in the industry.
Facebook page for message: https://www.facebook.com/VickySidanaCastingDirector

7. Nandini Shrikent

It was her internship with Govind Nihlani on Takshak which changed the course of her career.
Nandini got her first big break when she got a chance doing the casting for Lakshya. However, her very first assignment was more of a challenge for Shrikent when she was asked to cast 72 actors to fit Lakshya's war set-up. However, her performance in Lakshya ensured that there was no looking back. Her next few projects, Luck by Chance , Rock On!!, Life of Pi, Student of the Year and most recently, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani established her as a name to reckon with.
Facebook page for message: https://www.facebook.com/nandini.shrikent
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