Anupam's acting school to open in London and Durban

Mumbai, Jan 14 (IANS) Bollywood veteran Anupam Kher is set to open branches of his acting school in London and Durban this year.

'We've completed all the formalities. The school in London will start some time in June while the one in Durban takes off in August 2008. In 2007, I started new branches of my school in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad,' Anupam told IANS.

'What started as a very small, intimate and sincere effort to share my acting skills with newcomers has now spread to three continents. For our acting school, the proudest achievement in 2007 was Deepika Padukone. Yes, she's our product,' said the proud guru who hopes to establish a branch of his acting school in the US in 2009.

Anupam is perhaps the only actor with acting schools in Asia, Europe and South Africa.

From Ang Lee's 'Lust, Caution' to 'Lead India', 2007 has been an extraordinary year of triumphs for the actor.

He said: 'Yes, when I look back on the year I do feel a great sense of satisfaction. I did quite a large number of films, good and not so good in 2007.

'In addition I went to Israel to do the commentary in a six-dimensional film on India and its culture and then I gave my voice to an international animation film where I played an Indian horse.'

Anupam added: 'But I guess my biggest achievement is my acting school. I'm very proud of our students. The one in Mumbai is so successful that we had to take two batches of students instead one for 2008.'