‘Lot of shows have decided to call it quits’

Whenever I get a project in and around UP, I try and bring the best of talent hidden there.

SHADMAN KHAN,

Casting director

Born in Lucknow and brought up in Mumbai, casting director Shadman Khan feels it’s tough to keep the projects and funds running due to second wave of Covid-19.

“Like many other industries, ours too is going through a bad patch. We were struggling to rise from the losses of 2020 crisis and here we are again head down in chaos. Lot of shows that were not getting TRP, as well as number of new ones, have decided to call it quits. Because, not all can go to safe locations and shoot,” said the young casting director and associate of shows like ‘Kahaan Hum Kahaan Tum’, ‘Beyhadh-2,’ ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ and ‘Savdhaan India.’

After casting for web series like ‘Aashram’, ‘Poison’, ‘Bang Bang’ and more Shadman strongly believe that OTT is the biggest saviour for the industry.

“It’s is an undeniable fact that if it wouldn’t be for OTT, many of us wouldn’t have been able to survive at all. But once again, cases have surged and we can just pray for normalcy to return to restart the work.”

Talking about how got into this field, the winner of Dada Saheb Phalke Icon Award Films, said, “I was called for an acting audition but instead I asked for a job and landed into casting team of Ekta Kapoor’s production house followed by more jobs in the same field. After all the work and learning today, I own a casting agency and I’m glad that somewhere I am on the right path. Today we are associated with multiple projects on TV, web and films.”

In his bid to try helping youth from UP, Shadman has been working hard. “Whenever I get a project in and around UP, I try and bring the best of talent hidden there. Youngsters who are talented but have no platform, it’s for them I try to help the most. Like during the shoot of ‘Aashram’ we tried to bring the best talented crop irrespective of whether they have sources or resources,” said Shadman.