HALO, a Microsoft’s popular video game. On which now a series of Paramount Plus with the same name is coming. Shabana Azmi plays the role of Admiral Margaret Parangosky in the show, which is an important character in the story. ‘Halo’ was a completely new experience for Shabana Azmi, who has worked on international projects like ‘The City of Joy’ and ‘Son of the Pink Panther’. The reason for this was that this was her first color-blind casting project in 34 years of her career.
What is color blind casting?
The casting process in which factors such as skin color, ethnicity, gender, and body shape of the actor are not taken into account, is called color-blind casting
Like Margaret Parangosky is a white woman in the video game ‘Halo’. But the makers signed an Asian actor, that is, Shabana Azmi, not keeping his ethnicity in mind. Huma Qureshi’s casting in Zack Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’, which came last year, was also an example of color-blind casting. In an interview, Huma had said that color-blind casting is the future. Along with this, the actors will get the right representation.
What an actor looks like in color-blind casting, what race he comes from, such things don’t matter. These factors do not define it. It is also called non-traditional casting i.e. unconventional casting.
Let us understand this through some examples:
#1. Alien (1979): The director of the film, Ridley Scott, did not define the gender of any character while writing the film that is, keeping them unisex. So that there is no restriction to casting the male or female actor in any character. For example, Alan Ripley, the character of Sigourney Weaver, was written on paper only under the name of Ripley. He was named Alan after his casting was finalized.
#2. Peter Brook’s The Mahabharata (1989): English theater and film director Peter Brook adapted the Mahabharata into a French play. Brook believed that the Mahabharata was not the property of any one country or race. For this reason, he took actors of different races in his nine-hour play.
Like Bhima’s role was played by a black French actor, Dronacharya’s role was played by a Japanese actor, and Mallika Sarabhai played Draupadi. Brooke also made his play English. After which there was a plan to perform it in India as well. But the makers did not get official permission in India.
Shabana Azmi said in an interview about ‘Halo’ that the producers should not cast only based on ethnicity. In that sense, the Asian actor will only get English-speaking characters such as Shopkeeper or people with Strange Accents. She believes that casting actors from different backgrounds will also benefit producers, allowing them to tap into multiple film markets at once.
