Bollywood opens its doors to aspiring actors from UK

London: Bollywood is all set to open its doors for many aspiring artists from Britain and all over the world. The world’s biggest film industry will soon make its presence felt strongly in the international arena, thanks to the first official Bollywood acting school in Britain.

The school will open in the West London borough of Ealing in September this year.

The idea behind the institute is to improve the quality of the performances in Bollywood films and represents the next step in the growing association between Britain and the Hindi film industry.

Ealing Institute of Media, where the school will be based, and Heathrow City Partnership, a not-for-profit company with responsibility for development in the area, are positive that the promise of tuition from visiting Bollywood celebrities will help to stimulate demand for places, despite the 2,000 pounds-a-month course fees.

Apart from acting on camera, the curriculum will teach pupils the arts of martial arts, yoga, dance, music and, if the need arises, Hindi, as well as diction and improvisation.

The idea, according to the school’s chairman and a noted Bollywood actor, Anupam Kher, is “to breathe and smell only acting”.

The school is the first international by-product from Actor Prepares, the academy founded by Kher in Mumbai three years ago.

Kher is hoping his international venture will break the clichéd Bollywood acting in Hindi films.

“The standard of acting in Indian films was mediocre but in the last few years audiences have become much more educated towards cinema because of the onslaught of satellite channels and the arrival of multiplexes in India. I am trying to kill off a certain style of clichéd Bollywood acting. It’s already dying so it is the right time to do this international school,” Times Online quoted Kher as saying.

He added that though the school is in one of Britain’s largest South Asian communities, it is intended to be open to everyone.

“There are Britishers who want to act in Bollywood films as well,” Kher said.

“Of course, the Bollywood section of the course will be prominent but it won’t be the only thing we teach. There is a film tradition section, where we will show them great films from world cinema. Acting is becoming universal,” he added.

About 60 students will be admitted in the first year and will pay 6,000 pounds each for a three-month course.