Do wannabe actors need to be trained?
Our Telugu film industry thirsts for more actors and that too those who are trained. Often we see many good-looking actors who have great voices, but it is hard to find one who is fully equipped to take on a challenging role. According to a survey, 70 percent of the current crop of actors in the Telugu film industry are professionally trained. Attending an acting school is increasingly seen as imperative for a sustainable career. Training initiates actors to many components of acting but unfortunately for us in Andhra Pradesh, the institutes do not provide career advice and support in finding work that can make the difference between success and failure.
Andhra Pradesh has only five training schools - Satyanand’s, Pradeep Sai’s, Devadas Kanakala’s, Madhu Film Institute, Dikshit theatre group and Bikshu’s. Recently Suresh Babu announced his plans to come up with a Film Institute at the Ramanaidu Studios. Director Tammareddy Bharadwaja says that the above mentioned institutes are all independent bodies. “Moreover, people who go there to get trained are sons or nephews of actors and producers who’ve already decided to make acting as a career. They outnumber the newcomers who are not related to the industry. Apart from Rajnikant, Chiranjeevi and Rajendra Prasad, who are the other trained actors? And among women, apart from Laya, Veda and Suhasini we haven’t seen any fresh faces.”
Bhardawaja adds, “We cannot ask the government to have a tie-up with such institutes because that creates more problems like reservations and scarcity of films, which might lead to unrest. The Ramanaidu Film Institute will be tentatively thrown open in June but we have to rethink on the logistics, maintenance, and it is not beneficial commercially. Teachers are a major problem; for the past 10 years we have been facing this problem, we need teachers for all the technical crafts too. The dearth of good actors is also partly because of media focus; they cannot cope with the harsh and constant media glare.”
An industry source quotes that it’s a misnomer that all trained and talented people get work in the industry. The truth is that not everyone can be a star and becoming an actor may not guarantee wealth. It is true that much of the employment in the industry is based on luck and there can be uncertainty about where the next offer will come from. However, the desire to act and the personal rewards of doing something that inspires you can be immense.
On the contrary, when you enter the industry completely trained, the attitude of the filmmakers can put you off. You could be branded as head strong and arrogant for even asking as to what role you could be playing in the film that’s being offered to you. Many actors undertake work that utilises their skills in a huge range of areas and some actors go on to form their own acting or media companies while some others are inclined towards theatre. Acting is instinctive, and actors are rather born, like poets, or writers, but they can practise hard and can be intelligent about how they work. Trained or inborn, the film industry needs fresh blood. Film education is vital for the revitalisation of the Telugu film industry.
