Ask Anupam
Anupam Kher on Acting

Believe me, there are some dark, desolate descriptions of acting schools in Mumbai which I keep receiving from time to time, schools which should be called ‘sheds’, ‘stables’ or ‘shelters’ for stallions who have little or no pedigree or are sick after running all their rough races.

The first acting stable which was supposed to be the best in city is housed in a place which almost resembles a slum. Very little or very little light which leads you to the stable. And what you see there is absolutely shocking. There are some 30 or 40 future actors and actresses, stars if you may say so, all packed like dry sardines in a tin dated 1892. And the first question that hammers you like a bolt from the blue, no, is not a question. It’s a sheer shock, a sheer jhatka which can break the hearts of the greatest sensitive pahalwans anywhere.

The man behind the "stable" enters his "stable", his empire and "animals" of various types and sizes fall at his feet. There are some "animals" who belong to a higher pedigree. They just wish the master, say good morning or fold their hands in a semi solemn namaste. The master takes his seat and announces the subject for the day. He blabbers and stammers from various text books on acting he has spent a lot of time mugging without understanding the essence of acting. His blabbering comes to an end after an hour. The first lecture is over. You can see the "animals" chewing their cud, about to fall asleep or almost about to run away from the stable.

Anyway back to the ‘stable’ of acting. The master then tries to call as many ‘animals’ as they can, some of them solo and some of them in groups. They are given a scene and asked to perform the entire scene without any teachers’ guidance, without any attention being paid to them. There are scenes where one teacher of acting talks to another teacher about their own problems, their getting their own break, their waiting for their breaks when they will have the freedom to flee this "stable" which are "sick" but they have to carry on because they have to do it pet ke liye. There are times when the "master" points out a few flaws (actually all of them look like flaws, certainly this is not the way a sensitive subject like acting is taught). But the master just overlooks them and then it is another scene and another batch desperately trying to take whatever they can from their teachers who, I am sorry to say, are in no way in any position to inspire their students.

It is time for the next lecture - the time to act out romantic scenes. There is a lot of embarrassment seen all around, there is a lot of giggling and laughing for no reason at all. The master calls for action. There is silence everywhere but nothing the boys and girls do looks romantic, I am sorry to say. They look pathetic more than romantic.

This training to prepare the actors and stars of the future goes on for hours and it is difficult to say what happens at the end of it. It is only very easy to say that these 30 odd young men and women don’t seem to have a very bright future ahead of them. There are one or two who are quite promising but then they have a long struggle ahead of them. I cannot understand how the sensitive "master" cannot know that what he is doing, is not the right thing to do. Acting is not taught like this, acting is not taught in "stables" to "animals". There are other acting schools which are run in poky apartments in faraway suburbs. There is one acting school where the "headmaster" seems to be in a state of stupor most of the time and explains his behaviour to his students as the acting of a great tragedian, a tragedian any time of the day. What things men and women do to make a living!

TR Anand, Sarangbad:
You are a multi-faceted personality. You have excelled as an actor, producer in theatre and even as a journalist. Your recent performance in the cricket match organised by the Sahara Drought Relief Cup in which you took five wickets as an ace bowler proved that you are a good cricketer too. How do you manage so many things with the same sincerity?
I have always believed (and no one has taught me what to believe and what not to believe) where there is a will there is a way. And besides I have been blessed with some good qualities like determination, discipline, and not letting disintegrate myself in any way.

Kaho Naa... Pyar Hai, Chal Mere Bhai and Kya Kehna! gave you the big boost you needed. What next, Mr Kher? I hope you win all the awards next year.

Again, it is a matter of my determination. I have taken myself as an actor easy for sometime. I have taken the actor called Anupam Kher seriously again now and my advice to all actors is never to let yourself go lethargic, take things easy. Lethargy can keep you alive but can kill the actor in you gradually. I have learned my lesson the hard way. I want you to learn the lesson the harder way because the future is not going to be as easy as it was in the past.

Kundan Bhardwaj, Mumbai:
Most of the actresses I have heard about seem to be dumb. One leading actress who was pregnant felt she had a tumour in her stomach. How can a woman who has travelled all over the world, met all kinds of people, learned (?) so many things be so ignorant or is it her innocence?
God bless that woman. God save our world from such women. It is beyond me to answer such questions. You may call me ignorant if you wish.

Sanjeev Kumar Goyal, Dehradoon:
I think acting is not concerned with intelligence. I am not satisfied with the admission procedure of the FTII. The institute conducts exams for which questions are asked about general knowledge and mental ability. I think a person who is having a fairly good knowledge of arts and direction can be weak in written English and Maths. Nobody can judge an actor’s talent by evaluating his ability in general science or equation. The admission process must be changed. One should be judged by his imagination and the interview should be conducted by people who know what would do a world of good to hundreds of youngsters who flock to the FTII with fleeting feelings of high hope.

There is a lot of confusion in the syllabus of the FTII, I know. I am all for a change and some higher ups have promised me that they will go as far as they can for a change, where we have talented actors coming out of the FTII in years. Some great minds who know the insides of cinema should sit together and thrash out a new syllabus. It is high time before the FTII reaches a point of no return. And that will be one of the sad days in the history of Indian cinema.