Anupam Kher to launch acting school in Ahmedabad

New Delhi, July 2 (IANS) Bollywood veteran Anupam Kher will launch his acting school Actor Prepares in Ahmedabad after having opened branches in Chandigarh and London.

'This phase of vigorous expansion reflects the high level of interest in Indian cinema and the entertainment business among the younger generation the world over. I believe that acting, like any craft, can be taught, learnt and perfected,' Kher said in a statement released here Thursday.

'My interactions with the current crop of international directors, be they Danny Boyle or Ang Lee or Gurinder Chaddha, keeps me abreast of global trends that are emerging in world cinema and I pass on such knowledge to my students,' added the actor, whose career spans a quarter century encompassing almost 400 films.

Spread over a 2.5 acre campus, the acting school will be launched July 20. The school also boasts of a swimming pool, a gymnasium and a horse-riding school.

Asked about the same, Anupam asserted: 'Acting cannot be taught in isolation...it needs to be viewed as part of a larger exercise of personality development. Hence in our programmes everywhere, we also include yoga, dance, martial arts, voice and diction etc.'

Apart from the school, the actor is also perfecting a programme on life-coaching, called The Change Within.

'I got the idea from my own life in which I roller-coastered along from failure to success to almost failure again. And I realised that through it all I have not really changed as a person. So I started discovering the roots of my equanimity and I rediscovered the wisdom of my grandfather's sayings...' said the actor who was last seen in the box office dud 'Victory'.

Kher is also planning a school in South Africa.