How Stars Are Made: Mukesh Chhabra, India's top Casting Director, reveals | Karishma Mehta | EP 77

“Whenever Rajkummar Rao performs in an audition, you just cannot ignore him! He’s among the rare crop of actors who crack almost every audition they give. He’s so genuine and sincere that he only cares about acting—his looks, his hair, or anything else are of no concern to him. And no matter how many times he’d be called for auditions, he’d show up without hesitation. I remember, for Kai Po Che and Shahid, we had 15 rounds of auditions, but he’d show up right away. He still has that desire and passion to perform that he has always had. And I feel that’s what has got him to where he is today…” In a career spanning more than 15 years, Mukesh Chhabra has given us talents like Rajkumar Rao, Sushant Singh Rajput, Pratik Gandhi, Sanya Malhotra, Mrunal Thakur amongst many others! But 2 decades ago, as a student at NSD, Mukesh Chhabra had never imagined that he’d come to Mumbai one day and become the ‘star maker’… And yet, here he is! A well-known Casting Director today, Mukesh found his love for casting on the sets of Rang De Basanti… In those times, when casting directors were few and far between, Mukesh’s knack for finding the right talent for the right roles earned him a reputation and soon, he started the Mukesh Chhabra Casting Company. But after casting for 300+ movies, including iconic ones such as Gangs of Wasseypur, Dangal, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Kai Poche; 100+ web series, including Sacred Games and Delhi Crime, and so many TV commercials, Mukesh is far from done! Join us as he takes us through his journey—from stumbling upon casting to how he trusts his ‘gut instincts’ to pick the right fit for roles, and from his take on nepotism and the casting couch to working alongside SRK in Jawan & lots more… This episode is a must-watch, especially for aspiring actors. We also spoke about: . How the Delhi boy moved to Mumbai . Casting 384 actors for Gangs of Wasseypur . What he saw in Rajkumar Rao . Casting for Jawan . The best films he’s casted for . Casting couch . His directorial debut . Memories with Sushant Singh Rajput . His advice to aspiring actors #mukeshchhabra #humansofbombay #podcast TIME STAMPS: 00:00 - Precap 00:23 - How did a Delhi boy come to Bombay? 02:31 - Gangs of Wasseypur anecdotes 05:09 - What makes you so good at your job? 05:51 - What brought Rajkumar Rao here? 07:11 - On Pankaj Tripathi 08:44 - Casting for Jawan 10:34 - Sharing screen space with SRK 12:13 - Memorable moments from his career 13:55 - Best films he's casted for 14:28 - Change in casting wrt OTT 15:35 - Nepotism & Casting 17:32 - How can upcoming actors get noticed? 18:45 - Casting couch 20:53 - On directing Dil Bechara 22:06 - On Sushant Singh Rajput 22:52 - What he saw in Sushant Singh 23:44 - Upcoming projects like Dunki and Fighter 25:46 - What he learnt in the last 15 years 26:23 - Advice to aspiring actors The Humans of Bombay Show, hosted by our CEO and Founder Karishma Mehta, is a Humans of Bombay original where we celebrate real-life heroes. From the single mother who had a baby out of wedlock to a female officer who served the army for 11 years, we want to bring out the extraordinary stories of seemingly ordinary people. India is a melting pot of stories, and with the Humans of Bombay Show, we want to bring these beautiful stories to you and give you a peek into the unique minds of people who have excelled in their fields. Links: Humans of Bombay Instagram:   / officialhumansofbombay   Uncovered by Humans of Bombay: https://youtube.com/@humansofbombayun... LinkedIn:   / mycompany   Mukesh Chhabra Instagram:   / castingchhabra   Facebook:   / castingchhabra   Twitter:   / castingchhabra   Karishma Mehta Instagram:   / karimehta05   LinkedIn:   / karishma-mehta-b22151174   About Humans of Bombay – Humans of Bombay is a movement that started 9 years ago. We believe that every person has a story to tell and we want to help them tell these stories. In these years we’ve published stories across genres – stories of love, hope, faith, and courage. And through our storytelling, we’ve built an engaged community of over 5M! Our idea is simple – to strike a chord with our community and catalog the beat of humanity, one story at a time.