EXCLUSIVE: Mukesh Chhabra Wants To Win An Oscar For Casting? Says, “I Might Sound Overambitious, But…”

The Oscars introduced Achievement in Casting, and Mukesh Chhabra, a casting director from India, is aiming for it. This category will be awarded starting from the 98th Academy Awards in 2026. This award will recognise a specific casting director’s work for a particular film. He participated in the reality TV show The Traitors. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Bubble, Mukesh Chhabra is aiming to win an Oscar in the Achievement in Casting category soon. He admitted to manifesting that moment soon with his film.

Mukesh Chhabra Aims To Win An Oscar For Achievement In Casting

When asked about the Oscars, including Achievement in Casting as a new category, Mukesh Chhabra said, “Mera usi pe target hai, honestly bana raha hoon. Kyunki mujhe lagta hai ki meri zindagi…jab se maine announcement suna hai, last year announcement hua tha ki iss saal heading aayi, I think tab se, logon ko shayad sunke ye bahut ajeeb lage. Par tab se mere andar ki energy internally double ho gayi hai… ki shayad ek baar toh main is desh ke liye Oscar leke aaun.”

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Continuing, he said, “Haan toh mere mann mein hai ki agar main casting mein yahan tak aaya hoon ji, toh aage kahaan jaana hai? Ye ek baar toh leke aana hai yaar. Main chah raha hoon ki aur achhi filmein milein, challenging filmein milein, aur main fight karun, aisi interesting filmein laaun, taaki log bas bolein, Isko de do. I think main uss tareeke se manifest kar raha hoon apne kaam ko. Aur mehnat bhi kar raha hoon, taaki main ek baar bol sakun, mere mann mein hai yaar, honestly. Kyunki yahaan pe jitna bhi recognition milna tha casting ko, jitna bhi milna tha, shayad thoda sab mil gaya hai. Aisa kuch nahi hai jo nahi jaanta hoon casting world mein.”

Concluding, Chhabra said, “But globally, agar apne desh ko casting mein upar leke jaana hai, toh meri poori koshish hai wahan jaane ki. I might sound overambitious, but dil hai.”

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India At The Oscars

India has previously won, and some films and songs have been nominated in various categories. The list includes Bhanu Athaiya for Costume Design in Gandhi, A.R. Rahman, Gulzar, and Resul Pookutty for Music and Sound in Slumdog Millionaire, and M.M. Keeravani and Chandrabose for the song Naatu Naatu from RRR. Only 3 Indian feature films have been nominated for the Best International Feature Film category.

Mother India (1957) was India’s first nominee. It was followed by Salaam Bombay! (1988) and Lagaan (2001). Other notable Oscar achievements include The Elephant Whisperers (2022) became the first Indian production to win Best Documentary Short Film. RRR (2022), whose song Naatu Naatu won Best Original Song at the 95th Academy Awards.

For the 97th Academy Awards, India has chosen Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies) directed by Kiran Rao. The film was selected over Payal Kapadia’s critically acclaimed All We Imagine As Light. It had received international praise at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Akankshya Mukherjee

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