Musafir Cafe: Karan Mally shares why Vikrant Massey was a natural fit for Chander

A still from ‘Musafir Café’. Pics/Instagram

According to casting director Karan Mally, romance has become among the trickiest genres to cast because the audience instantly recognises familiar faces and formulaic storytelling. Finding the leads for Netflix's Musafir Café then needed "freshness above everything else". Mally explained, "We wanted the cast to feel authentic rather than familiar. The idea was to find actors who disappeared into their characters so the audience could immerse themselves in the world of Musafir Café. It took months of auditions, but once we found them, everything fell in place."

A still from ‘Musafir Café'. Pics/Instagram

Vikrant Massey was a natural fit for Chander in the story, which is adapted from Divya Prakash Dubey's novel of the same name. The love triangle is completed by Mahima Makwana and Vedika Pinto. Mally recalled, "We began by casting each character and then explored different combinations. When Vedika, Vikrant, and Mahima came together for a few scenes, we just knew. There was an effortless honesty between them."

The casting of ‘Alliance'

Rahul Vaidya mocked the casting of ‘Alliance', saying that he only recognised Aly Goni and Sohail Khan. Mally defended his choice, saying, "It's interesting how different Aly and Arslan Goni [brothers] are. Such contrast among contestants makes for great television"