CASTING SHORT FILM STRANGERS
Written and directed by Karishma Dev Dube, the film is set to shoot in New York City in July 2026. The film is the recipient of the 2025 Through Her Lens Program, produced with the support of Tribeca Enterprises and CHANEL. Selected from over 600 invited and recommended filmmakers, Strangers was one of five projects pitched to the jury and will receive full financing and production support from Tribeca Studios. Strangers marks Karishma’s follow-up to BITTU, which was shortlisted for the 93rd Academy Awards and received a Student Academy Award and the DGA Student Film Award, among other honors. The short serves as an elevated proof of concept for her debut feature of the same title, which participated in the 2025 Sundance Labs and received the 2025 SFFILM Screenwriting Grant.
Project Details
Film Title: STRANGERS
Writer/Director/Producer: Karishma Dev Dube
Producers: Anne Alexander, Ivan Laffayette, MG Evangelista; Produced with support from Tribeca Studios and Chanel
Cinematographer: Shreya Dev Dube
Composer: Arooj Aftab
Casting Directors: Geraldine Baron, Romil Modi
Dates: Mid June 2026
Location: New York City
Logline: A subway altercation jolts an arranged newlywed couple into unexpected intimacy.
DIRECTOR BIO
Karishma Dev Dube is an Indian filmmaker based in New York. Born and raised in New Delhi, she moved to the United States to attend the Graduate Film Program at NYU as a recipient of the Dean’s Fellowship.
Her short film BITTU premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was shortlisted for the 93rd Academy Awards. The film received both the DGA Student Film Award and the Student Academy Award in 2020.
Her previous short, DEVI, screened at international festivals including the BFI London Film Festival, Frameline, and Outfest, where it won the Grand Jury Prize.
Karishma is a 2025 Sundance Institute Screenwriting Intensive Fellow and a recipient of the 2024 SFFILM Rainin Screenwriting Grant for her debut feature, STRANGERS, which she will write and direct. She is also a recipient of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Gold Fellowship for Women and was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film.
SELECTED PRESS FOR PROJECT + DIRECTOR
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/through-her-lens-tribeca-chanel-womens-filmmaker-10-years-1236376827/
https://variety.com/2025/film/lifestyle/sarah-paulson-tribeca-chanel-through-her-lens-program-1236524423/
https://coveteur.com/chanel-and-tribeca-through-her-lens
https://deadline.com/2025/01/sundance-screenwriters-lab-2025-fellows-1236257911/
https://krfoundation.org/news/arts/2024-filmmaking-grantees-announced/
https://filmmakermagazine.com/people/karishma-dube/
CONTACT
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at gb@castingdouble.com
Thanks!
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
[RONNY] Male, 30-40, Indian. Ronny was raised in India and has a learned American cadence from ~10 years in the U.S.). Soft-spoken, observant, unassuming. Ronny has built a quiet life in New York, it is more about getting by and blending into the city than truly belonging. Desire doesn’t come easily or loudly; it’s something he’s learned to suppress. Even in moments that matter, he may pull away or soften his needs before expressing them. Emotionally, he’s contained but never cold. His past has shaped him into someone deeply self-reliant, he is used to moving through the world alone. Underneath, there’s sensitivity, thoughtfulness: his attractiveness and presence is a slow reveal, it accumulates through the course of the film. As he’s pushed out of his comfort zone by this day, and his new wife- something more direct, surprising, even bold begins to emerge. CO-LEAD. Talent must be based in NYC or work NYC local. Non-Union. Language requirements: Fluent in Hindi/English.
[TARA] Female, 25-35, Indian. Born and raised in India, educated in private English schools. Much of Tara’s confident, polished, cultured exterior is shaped by her family’s public-facing life back home. Now a grad student in NYC, she has a striking presence: an androgynous edge, effortless style, she is used to controlling how she’s perceived. We meet her in an intimate moment with Maya, an older married woman with whom she’s having an affair. As a moment of tension with Ronny escalates into a charged interaction , Tara takes charge - becoming defensive, sharp, even cutting. Beneath it, a vulnerability she works hard to conceal. Tara presents as self-assured and progressive, someone who has stepped outside the world she was raised in: but under pressure, contradictions surface, and she slips into the very behaviors she resists. SUPPORTING ROLE. Talent must be based in NYC or work NYC local. Non-Union. Language requirements: Fluent in Hindi/English.
[MAYA] Female, 35-40, White, American. A successful, openly gay artist in NYC. Her queerness feels lived-in rather than performative. Composed, quietly intense: Maya is someone who observes more than she speaks, maintaining a calm, steady presence. Her affair with Tara, a much younger, more extroverted art student, sits in direct conflict with this equilibrium. Tara and Maya are a clandestine couple whose relationship collides with Pari and Ronny in a charged altercation on the subway platform, an encounter that drives the film’s climax. In this moment of pressure, Maya may withdraw, deflect, or go still rather than confront things directly. There’s a flicker of self-consciousness that surfaces in small, almost imperceptible ways. This role carries a clear emotional arc within a single scene, despite minimal dialogue. Desire, guilt, and uncertainty play beneath the surface: the shifts registering in pauses, silences, and subtle changes in energy rather than overt action. SUPPORTING ROLE. Talent must be based in NYC or work NYC local. Non-Union.
[JACKSON] Man, 20-30, Indian American (first-gen, New Yorker). Fast-talking, decisive, with a strong New York edge. Jackson is used to being in charge. He’s much younger than Ronny, but also his boss and relative, and he leans into that power. Can be dismissive, his humor often lands as a put-down, a quality that can feel casually cruel. Underneath, he’s juggling multiple responsibilities, carrying pressure he doesn’t show. That stress leaks out as impatience and control. There’s a slight overcompensation in how he presents: worldly, self-assured, trying to stay ahead. The life he projects feels bigger than the one he’s actually living. SUPPORTING ROLE. Talent must be based in NYC or work NYC local. Non-Union.
[GOLDEN] Woman or Non-Binary Person, Ages 35-45, Indian. Lived-in New York accent. Androgynous, warm, and steady. Golden has a calm, grounded presence, someone people trust immediately. Kind-eyed, observant, and rarely rushed. A longtime co-worker to Ronny and Jackson, she’s the glue of the workplace. A jack-of-all-trades who keeps things running, often anticipating problems before they surface. In the community, she’s the go-to fixer, resourceful, discreet, and deeply connected. She’s easy to underestimate. Her demeanor is gentle, even unassuming but there’s quiet authority underneath. She moves through the city with confidence, navigating systems and people with ease. Comfortable in her queerness, with no need to explain it. Holds a layered life that’s rooted in her Indian culture while fully at home in New York. DAY PLAYER. Talent must be based in NYC or work NYC local. Non-Union.