New Delhi: Amazon Original ‘Jalsa’ has been receiving rave reviews from the audience since its release. With a stellar star cast, the film is winning hearts with its amazing storyline and some stellar performances. Jalsa stars a child suffering from cerebral palsy, played by an actor with the same disability, in what the film’s director and cast call a rare sign of inclusion in the world’s biggest film industry.
Surya Kasibhatla, a 14-year-old Indian-origin Texas boy suffering from cerebral palsy, plays Aayush, the son of Maya and has established his character like no other. His acting has not only touched the hearts of the audience but has also been an inspiration to many.
Anmol Ahuja, who has an eye for detailing and a heart for inclusion, talks about his experience of casting Surya Kasibhatla as Aayush in ‘Jalsa’ in an interview with an entertainment portal FilmCompanion . Anmol and his team are on the hunt for a suitable child who can suitably fit the role of Aayush. To everyone’s surprise, Suriya was not only confident and fit for the role but also “similar to Vidya Balan’s profile.”
Amazon Prime Video has released a behind-the-scenes video that travels through the process of learning and working with the cheerful Sun. The cast and crew of Jalsa were astonished and pleasantly surprised to see Suriya go through the difficult scenes with utmost dedication and charm.
Kashibhatla wanted to become an actor since the age of 4, although it took her a few years to meet Ahuja, but she was destined to go with a director who would look at her talent and not her medical condition.
Speaking about the briefing to Kashibhatla for the role of Aayush, Ahuja says, “I am a firm believer of inclusivity and when I read the script, I knew it would not be an easy task for Aayush to cast someone. ,
He continued, “We thought of looking for a child who has this condition (cerebral palsy), but we work with the child and see if we can perform right. Deepak, a member of the team Aggarwal helped in locating the children. Situation. We found some in Doha, South Africa, some in Mumbai too.”
Ahuja then told the entertainment portal that they were also looking for kids who were doing theater and had no conditions, as a back-up plan.
When asked how he met Suriya, Anmol Ahuja shared an interesting story. He said that Surya is the son of parents with technical background in Hyderabad. When he was 9-10 years old, his family shifted to Texas. Surya has his own website and is into software development at the age of thirteen.
He further added that Suriya had also made a similar video as Aayush makes in the beginning of the film. When he saw the video, Anmol knew that he had to contact Suriya. The team auditioned him and the video was sent to director Suresh Triveni. To find out how close Suriya is to Aayush’s character, the team gave him some exercises for which he would send videos.
When Suriya came to Mumbai, the team started with film-based workshops organized by Pooja Swarup and the director, who rewrote the character of Aayush according to Suriya’s personality.
Filled with mesmerizing performances and a heartwarming story, ‘Jalsa’ promises to keep you hooked to others, and leave you wanting for more. Apart from Vidya and Shefali, the film stars Manav Kaul, Rohini Hattangadi, Iqbal Khan, Vidyarthi Bandi, Shrikant Mohan Yadav, Shafin Patel and Surya Kasibhatla.
‘Jalsa’ had its global premiere on March 18, 2022 in India and on Amazon Prime Video in 240 countries and territories around the world. watch it now!