Bollywood

What Is Color Blind Casting And Why Film Industry Is Divided On It?

What Is Color Blind Casting And Why Film Industry Is Divided On It?

Although an actor’s race, caste, religion, and ethnicity have nothing to do with casting, they still get filtered out because of these reasons. And not just fresh but biggest actors also face this issue, especially in the west. Shabana Azmi went candid about her experience and shared how color-blind casting helped her get a role after 34 years.

What Is Color Blind Casting?

color blind casting

via:denofgeek

If you go by its name, it clearly tells what kind of casting it is. This involves selecting an actor irrespective of his or her ethnicity. It doesn’t matter whether the actor is male, female, or LGBTQ+, what skin color they have or how is their physique.

What matters at the end is their ability to fit the role. This unbiased way of casting is termed as color blind casting. It is called as non-traditional casting or integrated casting.

If we would have talked about this form of casting a few decades ago, it would sound impossible. But the film industry is growing in every aspect to give chance to rare and pure talent without giving importance to their background.

Also Read: Trailer Of Pravin Tambe’s Movie Out, Know His Great Story Here

Problem With Color Blind Casting

color blind casting

via:image

Though the present filmmakers see it as a good change, it is not adopted 100% everywhere. Many are still divided on this issue and call it problematic. One of the issues was difficulty in portraying the emotions of colored people correctly on the screen.

Pulitzer winner August Wilson was one of the few who were not in its favor. He called it a “tool of Cultural imperialists.”

But with time and many movies that have adopted color-blind casting, issues like these have never impacted films’ real story.

Color Blind Casting Movies

color blind casting

via:bbc

If we go by examples, you would see several movies both in Bollywood and Hollywood who have used color blind casting.

  • A big example is actor Dev Patel who has both British and Asian identities. He has played several big roles; one was David Copperfield who was a white man.
  • Mary Kom is one of those where a Punjabi girl Priyanka Chopra Jonas play a role of a boxer who comes from Kuki descent. Despite this, movie was a great hit.
  • Netflix series Bridgerton is another best example of colorblind casting which captured special attention.
  • The Witchere, where a black actress Mimi Ndiweni played a role of white character Fringilla Vigo.
  • Venom- Let There Be Carnage, where the character Shriek was picturised as a white man in the comic but movie had a black actor Naomie Harris
  • Thor- The Dark World, this movie’s character Heimdall was potrayed as white in the Marvel Comic but the role was played by a black british actor.

These are only a few movies, color blind casting is already in the industry still it will take to get accepted on a broad level.

shabana azmi halo

via:variety

Let’s go back to Azami who recalled her experience of working on English language projects initially.

She said it was a strange experience as only a few Asian actors were selected for the movie. It is not the same case now. Shabana Azmi will be seen next in Halo. The series will be premiered on 24th March on Voot Select and on Paramount +.

Share post: facebook twitter whatsapp