Even after being in the film industry for over a decade, actor Aahana S Kumra says she still feels she’s “alien” when it comes to casting in India. “I am just frustrated. I do more auditions in the West than in India. In a month, I do four to five big shows’ auditions in the US or the UK, but in India, I don’t do any audition for months on end. Nobody calls me,” she says.
The actor adds that with social media influencers taking up acting jobs, even getting a call from casting directors has become a challenge. “I don’t get any call from any casting director, they don’t even acknowledge your text or send a text back, it’s that bad. You’ll get a reply from a producer but not from a casting director. I am sure they must be responding to influencers a lot more than the actors. So, even I have stopped reaching out to them. In this year, I haven’t had a single call from a casting director to audition,” she shares.
Talking about her stint in the West, Aahana reveals that she recently gave an audition for the Suits' spinoff version, titled Suits: L.A.. “I did manage to go to LA and audition for the Suits spinoff. (Producer-writer) Aaron Korsh took my audition there. I went to the US for literally just 24 hours for that audition. I saw how respectful they are towards their talent and how professional they were in their casting and auditioning process. I was very overwhelmed with the kind of respect I got from them which every actor should get. But I have never seen that in India. I haven’t seen the creator or director of a show take my audition. I never heard back from them, but the good thing is I got to audition in person,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}Talking about her stint in the West, Aahana reveals that she recently gave an audition for the Suits' spinoff version, titled Suits: L.A.. “I did manage to go to LA and audition for the Suits spinoff. (Producer-writer) Aaron Korsh took my audition there. I went to the US for literally just 24 hours for that audition. I saw how respectful they are towards their talent and how professional they were in their casting and auditioning process. I was very overwhelmed with the kind of respect I got from them which every actor should get. But I have never seen that in India. I haven’t seen the creator or director of a show take my audition. I never heard back from them, but the good thing is I got to audition in person,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}The actor, however, insists that lack of work has become a constant for her in India, and especially because of being a female actor. “There are very few roles being written for us, and those handful roles are first being given to film kids and yesteryear actresses. There is literally the leftovers that come trickling down to us. Someone has to reject a part for me to even have a conversation about it,” she laments, however, adding that it’s the theatre that keeps the actor in her excited and employed. “Thankfully due to theatre, I am employed throughout the year. Every morning, I wake up with gratitude that I at least have a job. Thankfully, there is still value for good actors,” she ends.