New Delhi: Dinesh Sudarshan Soi is one of the biggest names in the casting circuit of the entertainment industry. He has made a name in the industry all by himself with his hard work and dedication. He is one of the few casting directors to seamlessly transition to many different segments in the entertainment industry, including theatre, music, acting, modelling, television, films.
Let's have a look at his defining turns and journey in his life. Dinesh was born in Gurdaspur, Punjab, and brought up in Mohali. It wasn't easy for him to earn that fame in the movies business. But Dinesh did it. He had his fair share of struggles, but then success came eventually.
Whether it was academics, sports, or flair for creativity, the award-winning casting director-turned-director Dinesh Sudarshan Soi always made sure to put his artistic vision ahead of anything else. From a very young age, he started building interpersonal skills and was in complete awe of the glitz and glamour of the industry.
Bollywood came for him in 2002. Initially, he started contributing in the field of education as a mentor for commerce background students. He has an impressive educational background too. In his free time, he was dedicated to more artistic pursuits. He was actively involved with theatre and fashion shows. Later, he decided to collaborate and joining hands with directors to understand the nitty-gritty behind the glamour world as a casting director.
In 2007, his victory as Mr India North served as a turning point in his life. He moved to Mumbai in 2008 to give a new shape to his passion for performing. Dinesh Soi was neither born into film family nor harboured Bollywood dreams, he just wanted to explore unexplored creative paths.
Soon, he bagged his debut project with the TV show 'Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya'. It was a huge hit. While doing that show, Dinesh got an idea about opening a firm related to casting in Mumbai also, as he was already involved in casting before coming to Mumbai. It was how his firm - DS Creations - was born.
He gave the field of casting a new definition since then. By 2010, he started getting noticed for his commendable work too. Till 2017, Dinesh had done the casting for several music videos also.
From 2002 to 2017, Dinesh Sudarshan Soi proved his worth on numerous occasions, consistently as a successful casting director. Setting the record for being the Finest Casting Director in Asia Book of Records by flourishingly casting 5,000 projects, which consist of short films, TV shows, commercials, print shoots, feature films, documentaries, and international films.
In fact, he also made it to India Book of Records in 2017 and to Asia Book of Records in 2019. Asia Book of Records gave him the title - 'Finest Casting Director' - and added his name in the category of ''maximum castings" in the world. Dinesh also holds the record with Bravo's International Book of World Records for maximum castings.
In June 2019, he wore the director's hat for a romantic music video titled 'Tum Kaho Toh'. This song was associated with Zee Music Company and got tremendous love from the public. It remained at the top of the trends list for a few days after its release and was very well accepted by the audience.
This was just the stepping stone to success. Soon, Dinesh gave a proper definition to his new role by directing some super hit music videos back-to-back. He also got awarded as Best Debutant Director at an event.
Casting director-turned-director Dinesh Sudarshan Soi then directed a music video - 'Hey Girl' - featuring TV actress Jannat Zubair Rahmani. This song too garnered massive attention.
His next music video will be a Punjabi one, titled 'Tera Naa'.
Dinesh Sudarshan Soi is now fully involved in direction too, he will be seen directing more music videos, also is planning to come up with one exciting web series and two movies.
