Casting director duo Vikas Pal and Vibhu Gupta reminisce the time when they bagged ‘Jamtara’

Bringing new artists to the forefront, Vikas Pal and Vibhu Gupta have given many deserving actors a platform to showcase their talent.

The duo is responsible for a stellar casting in the popular series 'Jamtara'. Vikas and Vibhu did casting for both seasons of the show. While the first season of Jamtara was spectacular, the second season started streaming on September 23, 2022. Made predominantly by young talents, the web series gave recognition to many new-age artists. Thanks to Vikas Pal and Vibhu Gupta that they got to discover talents from backward communities of India.

The two prolific casting directors do not come from a grandeur background. Hence, they scouted for talents outside the industry and the rest is history. The series turned out to be a massive hit among the audience. Having worked for an array of advertisements, the duo has done casting for web series like 'Yeh Meri Family' and 'Thinkistan' Season 1 and 2. The duo did casting for ‘NCR Days' as well which got tremendous love from the audience.

Sharing how 'Jamtara' happened, Vibhu Gupta said, "We got introduced to producer Manish Trehan, director Soumendhra Padhi and Viacom 18 Studios in June 2018 through my friend Trishant Srivastava who knew me during the theatre days in Delhi. When we heard the script, we were sure about the colossal success. We focused only on 'Jamtara' for a few months, and I am glad that the director and producers showed immense faith in us."

Furthermore, he stated that they wanted to keep the cast as raw as possible for which they auditioned a lot of candidates from Mumbai, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. Putting in their best effort, 'Jamtara' brought talents from outside the industry. Through their work, Vikas and Vibhu are ensuring that artists from outside the industry get an opportunity to prove their acting potential.

Vikas Pal and Vibhu Gupta's upcoming works are lined up with major OTT giants which will be announced soon. No wonder, they have succeeded in starting a trend of bringing artists from backward classes into the limelight. Interestingly, for one of their upcoming works, they cast some actors and non-actors from Mumbai's slum area Dharavi after conducting an extensive workshop.

Proving their credibility, the duo has made a place in the industry with their hard work. "People from backward classes and rural areas are marginalized by society. It is perhaps one of the reasons why these groups are still struggling for their rights today. We intend to bridge the gap and churn out the best talents from the country", Vikas concluded.