‘Jackie Shroff is my godfather’, says casting director Sohan Thakur!
Casting director Sohan Thakur is an established name today. However, many are not aware that he was initially a CA and got into this profession on the encouragement of legendary actor Jackie Shroff. “I was born and brought up in Bihar and then I moved to Delhi for my further studies. I was studying accounts and I was pursuing CA, but my destiny was something else. I encountered an accounts job in a media company in Delhi where I started and got the opportunity to go for shoots sometimes. I noticed the ambience and decided to join a production job there. And slowly, started loving it. And one fine day I got a chance to work with the legendary Jackie Shroff in a show. In just two days, I somehow managed to create rapport with Dada. He is my godfather. He gave me 200 rupees at that time. I still remember the date was 8 September 1999. I have still kept that note and it’s laminated. He also encouraged me to come to Mumbai and try my luck,” says Sohan.
After this, hie journey began. “I came to Mumbai and joined Sankaraman Telefilms as a production coordinator. I kept working on TV soaps and after two years, I realised my dream and switched to direction. I have assisted Ashish Patil, Sameer Kulkarni ,Vipul Shah and Virendra Pradhan,” he says.
After this, he started working in casting, says Sohan. “I was happily working in direction and I met with an accident. I was on put on bed rest for a long time. After that also, I was on crutches for so long. So, for my survival, I joined TV soaps as a scheduling ep and also did casting. I switched full time into casting and worked on many TV soaps. My hard work and passion have made me a good casting director. If you see my list of casting, then you will notice that all the roles are a superhit. My first independent casting was for the show Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya hi Kijo on Zee TV and it was a massive hit,” says Sohan, who has worked with Jackie Shroff, Manav Gohil, Rohit Roy, Ronit Roy, Ashmit Patel, Aarya Babbar, Sanjay Mishra, Tanuj Virmani and many more.
Ask him what he keeps in mind while casting, and he says, “When I cast, I keep in mind that an actor should be very good. They should be trained well if they are newbies or even if they are experienced. They must be given a proper brief of what the story and the character demand.”