How To Apply For ‘Indian Matchmaking’ Season 3 & Land On Sima Taparia’s Client List
If you’re a single South Asian of a certain age, chances are your parents will nag you about marriage. And if you’re on the internet, you might even have thought about joining the Netflix reality dating series Indian Dating Agency. However, the application process to be on the show isn’t entirely straightforward, and there are multiple ways to make your Netflix debut.
The easiest way is to be an existing customer of Sima Taparia, the show’s Mumbai-based matchmaker. In promoting Season 1, the show’s creator and executive producer Smriti Mundhra said decision maker that Taparia’s client list was the primary basis for casting. “It came down to getting through [and] Reaching out to every single person that was her customer — she has 500 customers — and seeing who would be willing to do that,” Mundhra said in 2020.
How can you become a customer? You can reach them directly on their website, Sima Taparia Net, which lists a description of their services – everything from “assessing your lifestyle and business details” to “adjusting horoscope if needed”. Be warned – Taparia’s services do not come cheap; corresponding ScoopWhoopif you enlist their help, you will make anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000.
When it comes to interviewing her clients, Taparia interviews them just as often as she interviews them. She has her own criteria before accepting you. “I don’t work for any client that I can’t personally make eye contact with,” she said TODAY. “If someone gives me their biodata, I don’t accept without seeing it [them in person]. Without eye contact I don’t feel like working and I don’t get the confidence. That is my good will. That has taken me to great heights.”
There is still a casting element for the series to take you from client to performer. Martin Hardy, one of the show’s casting directors, narrated Backstage that the series opened the casting process for season 2. “We had two stacks: work through [Taparia’s] Finding client base and finding people who are looking for partners to work with and then become their partner.” Backstage and other casting sites have since posted expired casting calls on their websites looking for single, aspiring millennials “who are serious about getting engaged or married and willing to share their journey on TV.” Since family involvement is at the heart of the show, their participation is also required.
If you make it through the first round, the producers will make a personal home visit to your family to get to know you, your life and the people in it, and your feelings about marriage. Netflix then emails out a questionnaire asking everything from the qualities you want in a partner to why you feel ready for marriage. From there, the producers are likely to evaluate all applicants and choose the one with some flair and drama for their final cast.
Though the lists are now closed, there’s little doubt they’ll be reopened when casting for next season begins. Just make sure you’re willing to compromise on your criteria for an affiliate before signing up.