'Didn't...give in': Actor recalls audition experience with YRF's Shanoo Sharma
What's the story
Manipuri actor Bijou Thaangjam, known for Shivaay and Mary Kom, among others, recently shared a peculiar audition experience with Yash Raj Films's casting director Shanoo Sharma. This revelation came after actor Isha Talwar opened up about her own unusual audition experience with Sharma, where she was asked to cry in the middle of a restaurant. Talwar had left her comment under The Hollywood Reporter India's Instagram post featuring Sharma.
Audition details
'I was asked to perform a scene right in café'
Responding to Talwar's comment on Instagram, Thaangjam got candid about his first-ever movie audition for Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! He admitted, "I wasn't fluent in Hindi, not very confident, but hopeful to give it my best." "And just like your experience, I was asked to perform a scene right in front of a café... 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."
Talwar's revelation
Talwar's unusual audition experience with Sharma
Talwar had shared her own unusual audition experience with Sharma, where she was asked to perform a crying scene in a busy restaurant. "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," she recalled.
Actor's reaction
'It's only fair that an actor is given...'
Talwar found the request "confusing/weird" and said it shook her confidence as a young girl in films. "I couldn't understand why a senior casting director needed to put a young girl through this?" she wrote. She added, "It's only fair that an actor is given a good casting office space to be able to audition in." Meanwhile, Thaangjam was last seen in Chilli Chicken (2024) and Talwar in SonyLIV's Chamak (2025).