Acting Courses

Various courses in Acting are available at schools and institutes of Acting in many parts of the country

Though the majority of Acting schools are located in the metropolises and other big cities. The FTII offers a two - year Postgraduate Diploma Course in Acting. There are twenty seats available for Acting course every year. Two seats in each course are reserved for foreign students / non-resident Indians.

Seats are also reserved for ST / SC candidates as per the Government policy of aspects like improvisation, movements, memory, monologue, imagination, etc., are stressed upon in this course. Students are also exposed to the technicalities of sound, light, editing, etc.

Asha K. Chandra's School of Acting in Mumbai offers a three - month Complete Film - Acting Training Course. The course includes acting therapies, workshops, direction, voice, speech, voice-culture and meditation. Moreover, students are also given training in video camera practicals and are also exposed to all aspects of film making. Batches are taken throughout the year and the Acting course fee is Rs.35, 000.

Twenty students are enrolled for each term at the Actor Prepares School of acting in Mumbai. A select number of students are also put on a "Waiting list" once selections are completed. The modules at this institute include diction, speech, voice, sound recording, dubbing, stunts, dance, aesthetics and early morning yoga sessions.

The Acting courses, run by noted theatre and film personality Anupam Kher, can be availed at a fee of Rs.1.20 lakh. Two scholarships are also awarded on a need-cum-merit basis. One gets awarded with an 'Actor Prepares' Diploma after the successful completion of the course.

A three - year comprehensive Acting course in Dramatic Arts is offered by the NSD (National School of Drama) in New Delhi. The course focuses more on theatre, but also involves acting in front of the camera and has a module on film appreciation. The NSD plans to extend Acting course to a five - year integrated program that includes two years of advanced graduation.

The Asian Academy of Film and Television in Noida (Uttar Pradesh) offers a one year Diploma Courses in Acting for Film and Television. In this course, students are trained in various departments of verbal and non - verbal communication. Acting course lays stress on developing the imagination and sensibility of the student.

The Acting course is designed to instill a keen sense of observation in the student as also to refine the way in which human behaviour is studied by the student. The course tries to break down the physical and emotional inhibitions of the student. A three - month Acting program and Presentation is also offered by the institute.

The Imago Acting School run by Barry John in New Delhi offers a three - month Diploma Course in Acting. The syllabus includes acting projects, voice and speech projects, physical activities and which has been designed and scheduled specially for working people and college students desirous of being involved in theatre or television in some minimal way.

Prof. Roshan Taneja's Bombay Actor's Studios in Mumbai offers a three - month Certification Program in Acting. This institute is popular for its stress on method acting.

The selection procedures for Acting Courses are very tough at the NSD and the FTII. However, it is fairly easy to get through into a private acting institute.

Many well - known actors and directors have opened acting institutes of their own like Subbash Ghai's Whistling Woods International, Padmini Kolhapure's Acting School and Anupan Kher Acting School and Anupam Kher's Actor Prepares.

It is necessary to get into an acting school to acquire the complete set of skills, knowledge and experience required to be an actor even if one is blessed with a lot of inherent talent.

A course in acting makes one an expert in a variety of areas like creative ability, good imaginative faculty, good vocal projection, physical fitness and the ability to analyse, understand and deliver dramatic text. Competition is very fierce in this industry and course in acting makes one fit to survive and emerge triumphant in the industry.