Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Though the Director is the ultimate decision maker in cinema; the casting
director plays a vital role in realization of what is conceived in
screenplay. Correct casting is an important key to the creation of one’s
conception. It brings alive the structure and puts it in flesh and blood on
screen .It is difficult to say as to what would have been the result if
instead of Marlon Brando some one else was cast in the role of the
legendary ‘Godfather’ because the role was so perfectly portrayed. The
very presence of Brando uplifted the film . Similarly, Topol was so well
cast in ‘Fiddler on the Roof ‘ that despite many characters the movie is
identified with him. On the contrary there are imminent Directors who
work with a set of actors in most movies; because they have tremendous
faith in their script and they too feel comfortable amongst friends and
protégé. Satyajit Ray cast Soumitra Chatterji in most of his films. Martin
Scorsese had Robert De Niro as his protagonist. Though; some consider
actors and even stars as mere props to execute the Director’s vision.
Roberto Rossellini cast non actors to drive home his point . Historical
charater pose a different challenge to Directors as public image of the
person is prevalent in the minds of the audience; the challenge is to
balance one’s creativity with the popular appeal. George C scott achieved
the vision in ‘ The Patton ‘ essentially with the brilliant screenplay of
Francis Cappola . In Hindi cinema the role of Akbar played by Prithvi
Raj Kapoor established the image of the famous emperor in the
consciousness of the Indian people – a case of perfect balance and
casting.