Your talent shone through and you managed to crack that coveted audition. For all aspiring actors who realize the dream, it is crucial to prepare well after you’ve been cast for a role. We caught up with ace Casting Director Mukesh Chhabra at the 6th Jagran Film Festival and here are his expert tips for all actors:

READ: 5 MUST DOs TO CRACK AN ACTING AUDITION

Listen to the Director’s Brief – Every director has a distinct working style. Once you have been cast, you should solely follow the director’s brief. Understand how many times you have to read the script, which director to work alongside with and which actor to help – get all this cleared with your director and start preparing.

Understand the Character – Once the brief has been received, understand the depth and nature of the character. If you have to play the role of a policewala, understand if he is honest or corrupt, what kind of family problems he has, what rank he is on, how long he has been working for etc.

On the Location – Spend as less time on set as possible. Anurag (Kashyap) just takes his actors directly to the set and then asks them to perform, we did that for Gangs of Wasseypur. The moment you enter the set, the body language and behaviour will change accordingly, so the best performance is received when the actor just jumps in. You have to let the place treat you how it wants to.

Don’t Over Prepare – Too much preparation can make the performance look unnatural. Prepare according to your director’s instructions. While Anurag may want you to jump in, Vishal Bharadwaj and Raju Hirani have a different method and like to do some preparation in advance.

Method Acting vs. Treatment of the Actor - I personally do not believe in method acting. When Vicky (Kaushal) went and spent time next to funeral pyres and on the ghats in Banaras for Masaan, that was treatment of the character, not method. Method is when you follow the character and apply what you have studied in theory.

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