Shanoo Sharma

Some Lesser Known Facts About Shanoo Sharma

• During her childhood, Shanoo Sharma lived in many places in India and went to 13 different schools in the country.

• After completing her school education, she moved with her parents from India to Johannesburg, where her father opened an Indian restaurant.

• Shanoo Sharma wanted to work at the restaurant, so she started waitressing on weekends.

• When she was 17 years old, she went back to Mumbai, shaved her head, and tried different jobs like helping designer Manish Malhotra (but was fired after a month), bartending, working as a receptionist, and working in a PR agency.

• Reportedly, people thought that Shanoo Sharma was a ‘wild child’ because of her behaviour.

• Once, during a media conversation, she talked about her initial jobs. She said,
  

  I was bullshitting my way through life, saying yes to whatever work I found first, and then figuring out how to do it later.”

• While moving around a lot and trying different things, Shanoo Sharma found out that she had some special skills.

• People often asked her for advice, like ‘Should I wear this?’ or ‘Should I go to that party?’

• Shanoo Sharma was usually very good at giving the right answers. This was how she began to do casting.

• People started asking her to help with casting because she was good at judging what suited them.

  

• Shanoo Sharma started working as a professional casting director after she broke her leg. While she was resting at home, she began a talent management service.

• She helped actors by advising them on how to dress and style themselves. She also started connecting these actors to casting directors.

• After Shanoo Sharma got well, her brother, Sameer Sharma, encouraged her to try casting for a film.

• The film was Sudhir Mishra’s Khoya Khoya Chand in 2007.

• When Mishra asked if she could do casting, Shanoo Sharma first said it would be easy. However, when she started the work, she found it very difficult.

• She once mentioned in a media conversation that when she began working as a casting director, it coincided with a time when people started taking casting more seriously. She said,
  

  When I started there was no real job called ‘casting’. People would just say, heroine ke liye koi khoobsurat type le ao (Get a beautiful type for the heroine), get a Rani-Preeti type. Rani-Preeti type!”

• During this time, Shanoo Sharma started learning acting in theatres and the creative world in Mumbai.

• In 2008, actress Anushka Sharma, in her debut film, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, was chosen by Aditya Chopra and Shanoo Sharma.

• In 2010, she became the casting director at Yash Raj Films (YRF). She is responsible for casting actors in all films made by the studio.

• That same year, her career breakthrough was casting actor Ranveer Singh, who was not famous then, in the film Band Baaja Baaraat. After that, this film made Ranveer a big celebrity.

  

  

• Shanoo Sharma then went on to launch the careers of several Bollywood actors, including Arjun Kapoor in Ishaqzaade (2012), Vaani Kapoor in Shuddh Desi Romance (2013), and Bhumi Pednekar in Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015).

  

• At Yash Raj Films, casting actors helps to shape the studio’s image and style.

• Shanoo Sharma is known for choosing actors who might not have usual or traditional backgrounds.

• She frequently holds open auditions and sometimes allows people to walk in to try out their acting skills. She trusts her feelings and instincts while picking actors.

• According to Shanoo Sharma, her job is to find people who have something special, whether they are trained or not. She believes that the audience decides who becomes successful.

• She is always thinking, no matter where she is, whether in salons, cafés, schools, or gyms.

• She often goes up to people in places like coffee shops and asks,
  

  Do you want to act?”

• This shows how she finds new talent wherever she goes. Her quick spotting of talent can change someone’s life very fast.

• Once, some actors and posts on many online websites have accused her of favouring certain people and blocking others unfairly.

• Sharma started working in film production in 2017. She produced the film Qaidi Band, which was praised by critics and received good reviews.

• In 2020, during the Sushant Singh Rajput case, her name was mentioned when people asked questions about how YRF manages contracts and casting.

  

• After that, Mumbai Police called Shanoo Sharma in for questioning during their investigation into the case.

  

• Once, during a media conversation, she shared that she had missed casting some actors she liked, such as Deepika Padukone, Kangana Ranaut, and Irrfan Khan. She admired these actors but did not work with them early in their careers.

• Shanoo Sharma has worked as a casting director for many well-known films and TV series, including My Name Is Khan (2010), Thugs of Hindostan (2018), Bunty Aur Babli 2 (2021), Shamshera (2022), Tiger 3 (2023), Maharaj (2024), and Mandala Murders (2025).

• In 2025, she came into the limelight when she chose new actors Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda for the film Saiyaara, which became a huge hit.

  

• In August 2025, Shanoo Sharma shared a story about Ahaan Panday during a media interview. She said that she had known Ahaan for nine years. When Ahaan was 19 years old, he first refused to meet her because he thought she might reject him. Later, she gave him a role in Saiyaara. She said,

  When I met him, he was a 19-year-old child who looked like he was 15! I saw a post of him doing something, found him interesting, and asked to bring him in. But he refused to come because he was tanned, looking dark, and thought we’d reject him. But the day we met, I knew it… that he and I were going to be working together.”