What’s important – Star power or authenticity? Bollywood’s casting conundrum with ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, ‘Chakda ‘Xpress’ and more – #BigStory – Times of India
Another film that faced the heat for its casting was Anushka Sharma’s ‘Chakda ‘Xpress’ where netizens slammed the actress for promoting ‘brownface’. Cringing at the artificially darkened skin tone and her accent, netizens pointed out that a dusky skinned, Bengali actress like Bipasha Basu, Konkona Sen or Esha Gupta would be better suited to play Jhulan Goswami.
People also noted that a transgender could have been cast instead of Vaani Kapoor in ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’. ‘Mary Kom’, ‘Saand Ki Aankh’, ‘Bala’… the debate around Bollywood’s casting and the lack of representation of marginalised communities has been around for quite some time. In this week’s #BigStory, we explore the various aspects to this burning question.
Are they doing justice to the part?
Long before the debate started, actors have been praised for their portrayal of transgenders. Ashutosh Rana in ‘Sangharsh’, Sadashiv Amrapurkar in ‘Sadak’, Paresh Rawal in ‘Tamanna’ and many others have a high recall value even today.
Miss Transqueen India, Navya Singh begs to differ and says they never do it right as they have never been through the pain, the trials and tribulations that transgenders are facing. “We are in independent India where the roles meant for us in OTT and films are being taken over by women and men. Instead of accepting and embracing us, we have our jobs being taken away by others. And it is not like they do justice. For one, they have never been through the pain, the trials and tribulations we face or are facing. So they are never able to emote right. Also the projection of transgenders is cheap or sad. We are objects of ridicule, or lust not love. Why would a trans woman take back a man who humiliates her multiple times in front of everyone for her sexuality? Would this society accept it if the protagonist were a woman? Are we meant to beg at signals or turn sex workers due to lack of acceptance and dignified employment? We need our share of respect in Bollywood. There is more to us than our sexuality. But to begin with, let us at least be chosen to play the transgender or trans women roles we are assigned!”
Equal opportunities, please!
Back when Priyanka Chopra’s ‘Mary Kom’ co-star Lin Laishram expressed her disappointment in Omung Kumar’s choice of the lead, she opened the floor for debate and said that it will be a shame if an actor of another ethnicity plays Mirabai Chanu in her biopic in today’s day and age. Reacting to it recently, Priyanka recently admitted that it could have been anybody from the north east. “We have many great actors. I want to be generous here and say that many, many actors could have done this. But the casting and the whole team decided on someone else. It’s heartbreaking, but we are coming along, and I hope that this does not happen again,” she said.
Filmmaker Onir opines we should be considerate when it comes to a third gender at least. “It’s not the question of an actress’ role being played by an actor. Third gender is a different gender. I understand for the longest time, people didn’t know how to find the right transgender actor. But right now, there are a lot of people, a lot of trans men and women available easily for the roles. I don’t know if they (‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ team) auditioned a lot, I hope they did. In my next film, I am going to cast a trans person for a trans role. When I put out a casting call, there were at least 30-40 trans persons who applied and we auditioned them and zeroed in on at least 3 trans persons for my next film.”
It has been a long journey for transgenders to get legal rights, but it is just their baby steps to liberation and equality, says Navya Singh. “Why are Vijay Raaz, Vaani Kapoor or Kubbra Sait playing trans? Does Bollywood not accept us as actors? Where is Ekta Kapoor? Where is Rashmi Sharma of ‘Shakti’, where is Sanjay Leela Bhansali, where is Karan Johar when it comes to equal opportunities for us? If you do not want to accept us for trans roles, accept us for roles of women. It is high time we rewrite conventional rules and accept us as part of society. We need our dignity. We have earned it. I challenge Bollywood… give us the chance and we will prove we are more than equal to any biological woman. After all, what we feel within is a matter of heart,” she asserts.
At the 52nd International Film Festival of India, Prasoon Joshi had said, “Diversity will come to our films only when there will be diversity in our talent. Only then we can see the truthful representation of a farmer’s life. People can argue that through discussion and observation a filmmaker can tell another person’s story. But if a person who belongs to that milieu comes to the industry, then you will get a true story.”
Casting impacts economics?
Mainstream filmmakers have the added pressure of box office numbers and star power is a major factor that impacts footfalls in theatres. Filmmaker Onir reflects that it will always be there.
Whether he feels the pressure as a filmmaker when the producers demand a popular actor to play the lead role, he says, “I don’t fall into that space, I don’t believe in that. In a film that has the lead as Alia Bhatt (‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’), it does not matter who is there in the secondary cast. It won’t make any commercial difference if there’s a new person. No disrespect, Vijay Raaz is a very good actor. But instead of him, if one would have cast Sushant Divgikar who is a trans person, I don’t think it would have made any difference in the economics.”
On the other hand, ‘Paatal Lok’ actor Abhishek Banerjee reasons, “If ‘Mary Kom’ was made with some unknown actor in place of Priyanka Chopra, then maybe the same audience wouldn’t have watched it and we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all. It would have merely remained an Indie film.”
“These things are a bit more complicated. When one does a film which is costing 40 crore or 100 crore, you are bound by a lot of things. Because I don’t, I am not bound by it. If I would do a film with a north eastern character, I will cast a north eastern actor. But things have to be done within the budget. To go mainstream we have to have comedy, a little bit of this and that… When you’re working on this kind of film with actors, the budget has to be made in a different way so that one does not have to make compromises. The minute your budget is over 15-20 crore, you have to keep thinking about how to please everybody. So then the authenticity goes, but that’s a choice you’ve made as a filmmaker,” Onir weighs in.
It’s about finding the right fit
When it comes to casting, nothing is more important than the film or the project, asserts casting director Kunal M Shah. “Yes, we get the requirements to cast actors as per the character. For example, if we need a north eastern girl or a midget or any such specialised cast, we have to get it done. In the case of ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, Vijay Raaz is a brilliant actor whose talent cannot be questioned. In just a couple of frames in the trailer, he has already left a huge impact and I think it really works for all concerned,” he says.
Irrespective of the gender or community, it’s the skill that is important, maintains Abhishek Banerjee. “If I have to cast someone for the role of a homosexual, and if a straight person is acting well, I will cast him, no? What’s important for us is acting. Kubbra Sait played Kukoo in ‘Sacred Games’. We brought a trans woman Mairembam Ronaldo Singh from Manipur to play transgender in ‘Paatal Lok’. We held auditions across India, and we found a good trans woman actress who could act well. We had even auditioned several girls and boys for the role, but Mairembam was found fit for the role. So when we find a right fit, they will be cast. It’s not necessary that every transgender may be a skilled actor. It may not always happen that we find a good actor for a given ethnicity role that we have, and people remember that film or the character because of the artist. It’s not that we are not looking in the right direction, but if we don’t find the right fit, what else can we do?” he says.
Why would any actor let go of an opportunity?
Looking at the debate from an actor’s perspective, if presented with an opportunity with a challenging role, it wouldn’t be a wise move to not latch on to it. Taapsee Pannu, who played the role of an aged sharpshooter in ‘Saand Ki Aankh’, was on the receiving end when people said the role was deserved by a senior actor.
“If someone comes to me with a challenging part that is far away from reality, as an actor, I am only hungry to grab such roles where I get to experiment, get out of my skin, get out of my comfort and perform. As an actor, I don’t think I will let go of the opportunity to experiment, because acting is about living the life that you don’t have in real life. This is one of the big reasons why I wanted to be an actor, to live a life I don’t really have. To put myself in someone else’s shoes and live that kind of life. That is why I wanted to take ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ even though physically or age wise, I might not be close to that character. But then that was the challenge for me, so as actors, we are hungry to do the parts that are far away from reality,” she says.
“If you talk about ethnicity, people will say that a Bengali actor should be cast in a Bengali role, or a Bihari actor for a Bihari role. Now I am Bengali, but I can also speak the language of Delhi, UP and also South. So I can act in any of these films,” adds Abhishek Banerjee.
Is it a pointless debate?
“The discussion is not going anywhere, people just want to talk about anything and everything without even knowing about the job,” says Abhishek.
Emphasising that if someone can act well, they will land the role, Abhishek adds, “One cannot just get up and act! Vijay Raaz saab has been acting since years, he has immense knowledge of theatre… only then he is able to do such a superlative performance. He isn’t even there in the (‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’) trailer for 10 seconds, but he has had such an impact with his presence. Could any other actor have brought the same impact? It’s important to think from this perspective before raising questions.”
Abhishek rightly points out that when Ayushmann Khurrana can play a bald character in ‘Bala’ even though he isn’t bald, why can’t Bhumi Pednekar play a dark skinned character irrespective of her real complexion?
Paresh Rawal, who played the role of a transgender in ‘Tamanna’ (1997) says that in those times (before social media), the situation was not so volatile. “Now people pick up any issue. An idle mind is a devil’s workshop,” he quips.
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