The actor told News18 that casting messages asking only for wealthy-looking performers haven't changed since his early audition days, and Arshad Warsi backed him up.
Pratik Gandhi says the audition briefs haven't changed. Speaking to News18 alongside Arshad Warsi, the actor recalled losing out on television roles early in his career because he didn't fit a certain "rich" look, and he says the same casting language is still doing the rounds today.
"There's a requirement of rich-looking actors and that those who are rich-looking only should apply," Pratik said. "What's this rich look? I don't know. It's very weird." He added that when he checks in with actor friends still auditioning, the messages forwarded to them haven't shifted an inch since his own struggling years.
The conversation landed amid a wider back-and-forth on beauty standards in the industry, sparked by Salman Khan's comments on Bigg Boss defending Katrina Kaif against trolling over her postpartum body. Pratik and Arshad's point was that the judgment isn't reserved for actresses. Men get sized up on looks too, just with different language attached to it.
Arshad didn't mince words, calling the whole rich-look requirement "the stupidest thing ever." Director Tigmanshu Dhulia, who was part of the conversation, offered a theory for where it comes from, tracing it back to India's old preference for fair skin. His read: casting decisions sometimes run on the assumption that wealthy people are fair-skinned, so filmmakers default to fair, tall actors whenever the brief calls for someone affluent.
Arshad on knowing his own lane
Arshad turned the discussion toward self-awareness about what an actor can credibly play. "Tomorrow if I say that I look like Hrithik Roshan, then I'm a fool," he said. "One has got to be realistic. I'm not 6'2". I've to be realistic about that." He went further, saying he'd have a problem being cast as Thor because it simply isn't who he is physically. His larger point wasn't about limitation, it was about not kidding yourself. Anyone convinced they're "outstandingly good-looking" beyond what's true, he said, has lost the plot.
The two actors aren't just trading notes from a distance. They're currently working together on Ghamasaan, Tigmanshu Dhulia's crime drama, which is likely where this particular conversation started brewing in the first place. Arshad moves next to Shah Rukh Khan's King, while Pratik has Woh Ladki Hai Kahaan? And Hum Hindustani lined up.
Whether any casting director actually rethinks a brief after this is another matter. Pratik's complaint was specifically that the "rich-looking only" line is still being forwarded to hopefuls right now, not that it used to exist and has since faded. If that's accurate, the industry conversation around it has moved a lot faster than the audition calls themselves.
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