Meet The Real Star Of Paatal Lok

‘Sudip
sir
keeps
telling
me
that
what
I
have
done
is
very
Hollywood.’

One
day
during
her
six-month
stay
in
Nagaland,
Nikita
Grover
broke
her
handbag
and
went
looking
for
a
cobbler
in
Dimapur.

As
the
cobbler
stitched
the
handle
with
his
weathered
hands
and
yellow
nails,
she
watched
him
intently.

He
was
just
the
man
she
was
looking
for.

He
did
not
know
Hindi
or
English.
She
did
not
speak
Nagamese,
so
Anungla
Zoe
Longkumer,
the
Naga
researcher
accompanying
her,
asked
the
question
on
Nikita’s
behalf.

The
question
being:
Would
he
audition
for
a
role
in



Paatal
Lok
2?

Taken
aback,
the
cobbler
declined
to
come
to
the
hotel
for
an
audition,
but
generously
chatted
with
them
about
his
life.

Nikita
and
Anungla
went
back
to
him
that
evening
and
cajoled
him
into
a
small
audition.
He
agreed.

The
cobbler
did
not
make
the
cut,
but
the
show
gave
Nikita
Grover
the
chance
to
meet
many
interesting
non-actors
in
her
quest
for
“that

one
right
face
for
that

one
scene”
in

Paatal
Lok
2,
one
of
the
best
ensemble
casts
we
have
seen
in
recent
times.

The
‘non-actors’
who
had
never
seen
a
film
camera
bring
a
genuine
earthiness
to
the
show.
They
may
appear
in
small
roles,
but
you
notice
them
and
want
to
know
who
they
are.

“I
was
literally
catching
people
off
the
road.
I
would
stop
those
who
caught
my
eye,
introduce
myself,
show
them
a
trailer
of

Paatal
Lok
1
and
ask
if
they
would
be
interested,”
says
Grover,
the
casting
director
of

Paatal
Lok,
1
and
2
and

Kohra
,
1
and
2,
two
riveting
OTT
shows
whose
characters
stand
out
for
brilliance
in
the
common
place.

Set
in
Nagaland,
the
second
season
needed
about
80
local
actors
and
Grover
wanted
to
pick
people
who
spoke
the
language,
belonged
to
the
milieu
and
carried
authenticity.

She
scoured
college
campuses,
music
schools,
restaurants,
markets,
even
went
to
people’s
homes.
“Sixty
per
cent
of
my
time
went
in
having
meals
with
people
trying
to
convince
them
to
act.
I
have
been
to
many
Naga
houses
and
eaten
food.
I
love
their
pork!”
she
chuckles.

When
a
young
Naga
boy
was
required
for
a
tiny
role,
she
found
‘the
right
one’
playing
on
the
street.

“I
asked
him
to
take
me
to
his
mother
and
requested
her.”
[He
played
the
role
of
young
Daniel.]

Theyie
Keditsu,
an
English
professor
from
Kohima,
was
spotted
at
a
restaurant
and
offered
a
role.
She
plays
the
dignified
Grace
Reddy.

Naga
rapper
L
C
Sekhose
plays
Reuben
Thom.

Kaguirong
Gonmei,
a
chef
at
Nagaland
Bhavan
in
New
Delh,
was
selected
to
play
politician
Jonathan
Thom.
In
fact,
he
is
among
the
first
characters
to
appear
in
the
opening
scenes
in
the
series.

A
man
who
had
lost
both
his
hands
plays
a
tribal
leader.

“I
took
time
to
win
ordinary
people’s
trust
because
people
take
time
to
decide
if
you
are
genuine,”
says
Grover
who
has
cast
about
400-450
actors
for
both
seasons
of

Paatal
Lok.

For
characters
from
north
India,
she
went
to
Delhi,
Rohtak
and
Patna,
even
scouting
grocery
shops.

‘Role

karogey?‘
she
would
ask,
and
a
couple
of
real
life
shop
helpers
in
Haryana
and
Delhi
found
themselves
as
watchmen
on
the
show.

A
young
boy
in
Delhi
was
found
through
an
NGO
that
teaches
poor
children.
He
is
the
son
of
a
daily
wager.
He
hasn’t
yet
seen
the
show.
I
have
to
go
back
and
show
it
to
him
because
he
doesn’t
have
an
OTT
subscription,”
she
says
talking
about
Guddu,
the
boy
who
sets
lead
character
Hathiram
Choudhury
on
the
trail
from
Delhi
to
Nagaland.

“I
want
to
tell
him,
‘Look,
how
great
you
have
done’!
I
want
to
live
up
to
that
feeling
all
the
time.
This
is
what
I
am
looking
for.”

She
made
a
trip
to
Jaideep
Ahlawat’s
college
in
Rohtak
to
find
characters.

Rediff.com‘s
longstanding
contributor
Aseem
Chhabra
appears
in
a
small
role
with
an
Aseemesque
line!

When
writer
Sudip
Sharma
sent
her
the
script,
Nikita
knew
only
one
Naga
actor
Merenla
Imsong
based
in
Mumbai
whom
she
followed
on
Instagram.

Imsong
plays
Rose
Lizo
who
has
very
few
speaking
lines,
but
her
eyes,
face,
gait
all
contribute
to
a
fine
performance.

“Sudip
sir
gives
you
time
to
find
his
characters.
‘Tu
kar,’
he
says
and
trusts
me.
Other
directors
don’t
give
you
that
liberty.”

“I
have
worked
in
casting
for
a
long
time
and
directors
will
say
‘aur
dikhao‘,
but
with
Sudip
sir
I
have
to
show
only
one
person
and
he
will
go
with
it,”
she
says
of
showrunner
Sudip
Sharma
who
grew
up
in
Assam.

“For

Pataal
Lok
1,
he
sent
me
to
Imphal
to
look
for
the
very
difficult
role
of
Chini,
a
trans
woman.”

In
an
interesting
twist,
three
film
directors
feature
in
acting
roles
in

Paatal
Lok
2
—
Jahnu
Barua,
Padma
Bhushan,
Padma
Shri
and
winner
of
multiple
National
Film
Awards;

Nagesh
Kukunoor,
winner
of
two
National
Awards
and
maker
of
some
memorable
movies,
and

Assamese
director
Kenny
Basumatary
who
dropped
out
of
IIT
to
pursue
cinema.

Getting
Jahnu
Barua
to
act
was
Director
Avinash
Dhaware’s
idea,
Kukunoor
was
Sharma’s
and
Basumatary
was
Nikita’s.

“We
were
not
sure
if
Jahnu
sir
would
agree
because
he
is
such
a
big
name
and
has
never
acted
before,
but
he
did.”

Grover
herself
has
a
role
in
the
series
as
an
endearing
salwar-kurta-dupatta
wearing,
plain-speaking
Dilli
constable.

“Sudip
sir
gave
me
the
role
because
he
had
seen
me
give
cues
to
actors
during
auditions,
especially
the
difficult
character
of
Chini
in

Pataal
Lok
1,”
says
Nikita
who
had
come
to
Mumbai
from
Delhi
to
be
an
actor
in
her
twenties.

“I
would
have
been
horrible
if
I
had
acted
then.
I
was
conscious
about
my
body,
but
now
I
have
no
problem
about
sitting
like
a
potato
and
scratching
my
leg
in
one
of
the
scenes.”

Grover
started
as
an
intern
for
FM
radio
in
Delhi
which
gave
her
the
opportunity
to
see
a
lot
of
theatre.

She
did
plays
and
tried
for
the
National
School
of
Drama
making
it
to
the
final
round.

She
then
came
to
Mumbai
and
started
casting
for
ad
films
and
worked
with
Onir
on
ads
like
for
Parachute
and
Kwality
Walls.

“Ads
take
a
lot
of
time.
I
used
to
audition
50
odd
people
for
a
scene.”

She
then
assisted
Casting
Directors
Abhishek
Banerjee
and
Anmol
Ahuja
and
subsequently
came
onboard
the

Paatal
Lok
series.

“Paatal
Lok
2
was
different
from
what
I
had
done
before
because
the
territory
was
unknown.
Sudip
sir
re-reads
the
scripts
with
each
department
2-3
times
and
you
can
call
him
anytime
to
ask
‘Sir,

yeh
samajh
nahi
aa
raha
hai‘.”

The
lead
characters
Jaideep
Ahlawat,
Ishwak
Singh,
Tillotama
Shome,
Gul
Panag
were
selected
by
the
director
and
writer.

These
characters
are
the
core
of

Paatal
Lok,
but
the
supporting
cast
brings
a
unique
luminescence
that
stays
with
you.

When
people
congratulate
Nikita
for
the
casting
of

Paatal
Lok
and

Kohra,
she
does
not
quite
know
how
to
react.

“I
don’t
want
to
take
myself
too
seriously.
I
would
rather
remain
in
the
space
and
continue
doing
challenging
work.”

“Sudip
sir
keeps
telling
me
that
what
I
have
done
is
very
Hollywood.
It
is
not
done
in
India,”
she
says
with
a
chuckle.

“I
tell
him,
‘sir
if
you
are
saying
then
it
must
be
be
believable’.”