In an industry where dreams are often clouded by glamour, Casting Director Manprit Rayat stands out not just for his professional achievements, but for his grit and resilience in the face of life’s harshest battles. A two-time cancer survivor, Rayat has transformed his struggles into stepping stones, proving that one’s spirit can shine even in the darkest phases.
Rayat came to Mumbai in 2013 with the same hopes as countless others – to carve a place in the entertainment industry. He began his career as an assistant casting director in advertising and quickly found his footing. But behind the professional success, his personal life was taking a toll. A difficult relationship, loneliness, and suppressed emotions led him into a downward spiral of mental health struggles, which culminated in a diagnosis of basal cell cancer in 2019.
“Cancer gave me the biggest reality check of my life,” he recalls. Battling the illness alone, without the comfort of a strong friend circle or family support, he found himself relying on sheer self-motivation. Therapy and doctors helped him heal, but it was his willpower that carried him through sleepless nights, panic attacks, and moments of breakdown.
Even as he fought the disease, Rayat refused to let his professional commitments slip. In 2021, while still undergoing treatment, he successfully handled the massive schedules of Coke Studio Bharat – Season 1, travelling across India despite being under constant medical supervision. “I didn’t want my condition to affect my work. Commitments are commitments, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could fight and deliver,” he says.
The loss of his close friend, actress Divvya Chouksey, to cancer in 2020 further tested him emotionally, but her words of encouragement stayed with him: “Fight the present like a warrior.” It was this spirit that kept him going during his second relapse, when cancer reached stage four. At his lowest, he even faced suicidal thoughts, but chose positivity, manifestation, and self-belief to pull himself back.
By 2022, Rayat had beaten cancer for the second time — entirely on his own. “No one is there for you in your worst. Not even family. I give full credit to my doctors and to myself,” he says bluntly, his voice carrying both pain and pride.
Today, Manprit Rayat continues to excel in casting, with over 250 brand campaigns to his credit and collaborations with top production houses and music projects. But more than professional milestones, it’s his journey of survival that inspires.
“For all strugglers, I have one message,” he concludes. “Don’t lose hope. Take the steering of your life in your own hands and keep driving. This city will test you, but if you fight with the right spirit, you’ll emerge stronger.”
From cancer wards to casting floors, Rayat’s story is not just of survival, but of courage, self-belief, and the power of never giving up.