Manipuri actor Bijou Thaangjam, who starred in Priyanka Chopra's 2014 film Mary Kom, shared a similar audition experience with YRF's casting director Shanoo Sharma. This came after Isha Talwar revealed her own 'weird' audition, where she was asked to cry in the middle of a restaurant. Isha said she found the request strange and backed out, but the incident still shattered her confidence.
Bijou Thaangjam's Weird Audition Experience With Shanoo Sharma
In response to Isha's comment on Instagram, Bijou recalled his first-ever film audition for Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, which featured the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Despite not being fluent in Hindi and lacking confidence, he was still hopeful about giving his best.
He commented, "Just like your experience, I was asked to perform a scene right in front of a café, the one that used to be called Bru World, Yari Road. I didn't give in. A few days later, her assistant called me back for a proper studio audition. But by then, I had already signed Mary Kom."
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Photo Via Instagram
What Isha Talwar Said
Isha narrated her story in the comments section of a publication's post about Shanoo. "When I started auditioning for roles with Shanoo, I was told to perform a scene at a restaurant called Mia Cucina in Versova, Bombay... a CRYING scene in the middle of a busy working restaurant with customers dining next to my table. I was told I should have no inhibitions as an actor and hence, I should be able to do a crying scene with Shanoo sitting in front of me and some of her assistants (sic)," she recalled.
She continued, "It was such a confusing/weird ask. It shattered my confidence as a young girl in films... I couldn’t understand why a senior casting director needed to put a young girl through this? It’s only fair that an actor is given a good casting office space to be able to audition in, or if you want to do a real location then hire a spot, pay for it and audition! (sic)."
