EXCL! Casting Director Adityoa Suranna On BIGGEST Challenge In Casting For Pune Highway

Pune Highway: If you have watched Criminal Justice, Baarish, Nail Polish, Abhay, and praised the casting, you definitely need to know about Adityoa Suranna. Mr. Suranna has carefully curated the cast of several films and web series, ensuring each artist fits the bill perfectly for the character he/she is playing

At Filmibeat, we believe in giving the spotlight to people, who work behind the screens to deliver a solid product. Ahead of the release of Pune Highway, we exclusively interacted with casting director Adityoa Suranna to know about his 'vision' while selecting the actors for the film.

Here are excerpts from the interview!

1. Pune Highway is being described as a gritty, psychological thriller. What were the biggest challenges in casting for a film that's so emotionally and psychologically intense?

One of the biggest challenges was ensuring that every actor even those in smaller parts, could convey a lived-in, emotionally resonant presence. The narrative unfolds in near real-time and hinges entirely on how convincingly we can portray psychological unraveling under pressure. That means there's no room for surface-level performances. Every character had to bring an emotional immediacy to the screen. Also, since the story originated as a play, we were constantly working to strike the right balance between theatrical intensity and cinematic realism. It required a lot of trust and collaborative prep work with the actors.

2. While the leads were already attached to the project, you were responsible for building the world around them. How did you approach casting the supporting ensemble to complement such layered central performances?

When you're working with leads like Amit Sadh and Jim Sarbh, both actors who naturally draw the eye you need a supporting ensemble that can hold their own without competing for attention. I approached it like a composition: every supporting role needed to bring contrast, rhythm, and nuance. For example, the characters had to represent different psychological states fear, denial, aggression, moral conflict and those qualities had to feel organic, not performative. I looked for actors who could internalize these emotions and play them with restraint. We had a mix of known faces and new discoveries, and each one added an irreplaceable layer to the story.

3. With your extensive experience across web series, films, television, and advertising, how do you adapt your casting approach for different mediums and genres?

Each medium speaks its own language. For example, in advertising, performance needs to be sharp, expressive, and efficient you have a few seconds to make an impression. In long-format storytelling, especially web series or psychological dramas like Pune Highway, it's about emotional layering and continuity. I start by understanding the grammar of the medium and then think about casting accordingly. But one thing remains constant: the actor has to serve the story, not the other way around. Whether it's a 30-second spot or a 90-minute film, I always ask does this performance move the narrative forward?

4. You've often said that story-driven casting is your north star. Can you share an example from Pune Highway where your casting decision was directly shaped by the script's emotional depth or psychological complexity?

Absolutely. One instance that stands out is the casting of the role eventually played by Ketaki Narayan. The character required a kind of raw vulnerability and strength that had to co-exist within the same frame. When our original choice dropped out due to scheduling, we were on a tight clock. But I remembered Ketaki from an earlier audition and brought her in. Her reading was emotionally naked, yet deeply restrained. She didn't "perform" the emotion she felt it. That quiet complexity mirrored the psychological chaos of the narrative. It's a choice that came directly from what the script was asking for.

5. Looking ahead to Memory X and other upcoming projects, how do you see the role of casting evolving in India's content ecosystem, especially with the rise of OTT and genre-bending narratives?

Casting today is no longer just about filling roles it's about world-building. With OTT and the kind of experimental narratives we're seeing, there's a growing appetite for authenticity and specificity. Audiences are far more perceptive now; they won't accept generic faces or performances. For Memory X, for instance, we had to cast actors who could subtly convey fractured memory and blurred timelines. That's a very different kind of challenge. I think casting in India is evolving to meet these complexities, and we're seeing more character-first, story-led decisions being made. It's a great time to be doing this kind of work.

6. Over the years, is there one project that stands out as the most challenging for you to cast? Or a moment where you took a risk with an unconventional casting choice that really paid off?

21 Sarfarosh - Saragarhi 1897 on Amazon Prime definitely stands out. It was a historical action drama led by Mohit Raina, and we had to cast a large ensemble that included British-looking actors who could convincingly portray soldiers and officers from that era, some even had to deliver lines in Indian dialects. That's not a common combination to find in India. We went deep exploring theatre communities, foreign expats, and even reaching out internationally. It was one of those casting processes where you can't cut corners. It pushed us out of our comfort zones, but the payoff was immense. The authenticity and scale of the cast added real weight to the storytelling, and Mohit's central performance was the anchor around which everything else was built.