Shabana Azmi’s advice to young actors: Casting directors aren’t looking for actors who only look glam and pout FilmyMeet

Know that feeling when a screen icon like Shabana Azmi posts your picture on their Instagram profile and “vouches” for you as a young actor? Shweta Prajapati, who comes from the village Mijwan (Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh), does.

Talking to us, the veteran says, “I saw her photograph and found it extremely evocative. Casting directors have told me in the past that all girls like to dress up and look glam and pout- this is not what they are looking for at all. They are looking for faces, they would rather see girls without their makeup or pre conceived notions basis what their Instagram posts look like.”

Azmi shares that she had seen the girl ever since she was in class six. “After school, I sent her to Mahatma Gandhi University of theatre in Vardha, she was there for three years and got good results. Now she has come to Mumbai and been struggling for the kind of look she should project herself in. This picture was correct. It’s amazing the number of people who have called me up for this post. It’s a question about the right time,” says the 73-year-old.

Given the avenues at the disposal of aspiring actors to showcase their talent today, we ask if it is easier to become an actor today compared to the time when she started off. Azmi quips, “This is a fallacy, that only if you have connections you can reach anywhere now. It will definitely help in the first break, but after that you could be the son or daughter of the biggest director or actor… if the audience rejects you, it rejects you. It’s just a question of chance. My advice to young people would be what a casting director also told me. They are looking for faces and not glamour or models. Don’t get into the trap of trying to look like a factory product. It is your individuality. When you are going for glam looks, thousands of boys and girls are like that!”