New Delhi: For filmmaker Subhadra Mahajan, the biggest challenge in casting for her movie Second Chance wasn’t the kitten, but to find the right boy to play eight-year-old Sunny.
“We auditioned nearly a hundred kids before discovering Kanav Thakur. What worked for me was trying to be friends with him, but also finding a balance where he would listen to me and agree to do another scene or redo it,” said Mahajan at a masterclass on casting non-actors, conducted recently with casting director Dilip Shankar at Himachal Bhawan.
Thakur’s uninhibited performance as Sunny captures tender moments with his grandmother (Thakri Devi) and their guest, Nia (Dheera Johnson). In fact, the entire cast of the critically acclaimed black-and-white film was made up of ordinary people—non-actors. This was a deliberate choice, said Mahajan, who was inspired by Iranian filmmakers Majid Majidi and Abbas Kiarostami, whose movies often feature untrained actors. For Mahajan, featuring people from Himachal Pradesh added another layer of authenticity.
“If we choose conventional actors, the honesty of the story might not emerge. But when you work with non-actors, the challenge is that they do not know even simple things like not looking into the lens while acting, or taking directorial cues. So we chalked out a way to cast,” said Shankar, known for his work in Monsoon Wedding (2001) and Life of Pi (2012).
The casting process was unconventional as well. From asking potential actors to share a joke, to talking about their saddest experience, to doing an activity on camera and being photographed, Shankar created a blueprint that helped Mahajan finalise her cast.
Set against the backdrop of the mountains, Mahajan’s directorial debut is about healing and hope. After the end of a traumatic relationship, Nia, a young dancer from Delhi, flees to her parents’ home in Himachal, where she forms bonds with the caretaker, Bheni, and her grandson, Sunny.
A cat, Yuki, forms the non-human part of the group as Nia slowly gets her bearings. The movie had its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2024 and will release in theatres on 13 June.
The casting masterclass was attended by around 15 people, some who had watched the film’s screening a day earlier at the Habitat Film Festival, and a few others who are training to be actors. The workshop lasted 1.5 hours, with audience members wanting to know about the colour palette and more anecdotes about the filming.
“One thing that helped the actors was giving all of them interpersonal histories about each other’s characters. We also created scenes that were not used in the film but helped them understand each other and work together,” said Mahajan.
Also read: ‘Dilli Dark’ is about outsiders in the city. It’s the first Hindi film with an African lead
Finding the right fit
Johnson, who had to take a rigorous month-long workshop under casting director Dilip Shankar, was selected after Mahanjan saw her interaction with school children at a school in Raison, where Johnson was teaching. It was her energy and enthusiasm that caught Mahajan’s attention.
What further convinced her was Johnson’s appearance in a YouTube video, where her screen presence and goofiness made Mahajan realise she might be the right fit for Nia. The video about a group of friends taking a road trip in the mountains had a scene where Johnson describes their tent in a funny way.
Thakri Devi, who is in her 70s, also underwent a workshop to play the role of the gentle, calming presence helping Nia recuperate, even assuring her of privacy when a doctor has to be called in to deal with the complications of an abortion. For Devi, it was important to remember her dialogues and the instructions on how to emote and gesture.
The first child Mahajan and Shankar almost finalised for the character of Sunny grew a few inches in the time gap between casting and the start of the shoot. That prompted the duo to opt for Thakur.
“There is no roadmap to casting a child. But we decided to take our time. We started by taking photos of the child to see if he would fit the character visually, before asking them a series of questions, including what they would do if they got Rs 1,000,” said Mahajan.
“I know how mischievous pahadi kids are, especially my own brother, who is seven years younger,” she added.
The hardest struggle was getting Thakur not to look into the camera while acting. This was finally achieved in a scene where he has to feed a sheep and walk away. To ensure Thakur gave his best, Mahajan also devised a strategy.
“His best friend would sometimes be there while we shot. I would tell Kanav that we could instead use his friend for the shoot. Kanav would then get competitive and put all his energy into acting,” said Mahajan. Thakur slowly became Sunny—the boy who loves playing cricket, acts like Superman, talks to himself, and makes a mispronounced get-well-soon card for Nia.
The task of casting a cat for the role of Yuki was given to Thakur, who did an impeccable job finding the cute Yuki when Mahajan met him next.
Also read: Pyre is a film about lonely parents in the Himalayas. It stars real villagers as actors
Stories from the mountains
A pahadan at heart, Mahajan also addresses the impact of climate change on those living in the mountains through the character of a shepherd (Ganga Ram). The haunting visuals of the mountains and water by Swapnil S Sonawane are not simply a pretty backdrop in the movie.
The pastoral nomad, who enacts a role similar to his real-life profession, flirts with Bhemi on his travels in the valley and praises her pakodas and yarn, while also talking about the way their natural environment is changing.
“Our Mother Earth is depleted and sad,” says the shepherd. “If we continue to destroy her like this, it will be the end of us all.”
For Mahajan, making the film was a tribute to her homeland and the kind of people she has grown up with and interacted with.
“Nia does not choose to stay on. She finds the light at the end of the tunnel and returns to Delhi. I did not want to fall into the trap of ‘living in the mountains and opening a cafe’ type of cliched ending,” said Mahajan.
(Edited by Prashant)