Posted:
| Where's the New Talent? | |
| By Deepa Gahlot, April 5, 2007 - 03:32 IST | |
| Last week, after a very long time, one got see new faces in Khanna & Iyer, who were not star kids, models or beauty queens. The Zee Cinestars Ki Khoj had throw up two new actors (Aditi Sharma, Sarwar Ahuja), good or bad is another matter. Everybody in the mainstream industry has to depend on stars—that's the way it is and always will be—but then there has to be a constant influx of new faces into the industry, and there has to be a way of spotting talent. The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) had been a fairly good source of acting talent for many years till the acting course shut down in the eighties. For every face that vanished into a void, there was one that had the resilience, talent and, of course opportunities—to stick around. The acting course was resumed at the FTII two years ago, but where have all the graduates gone? If they have signed any significant films, one is still to hear of it. Dozens of aspirants sign up with acting courses run in Mumbai, what happens to all of them when they finish the expensive courses and pass out with their diplomas? Except for the star kids why do the others get no breaks in films? Acting schools are expensive and only rich kids or Bollywood-obsessed NRIs can afford to enroll. Where do the hundreds of other talented actors go? Some into TV, some into theatre, some give up after the grind of leaving portfolios and producers' offices and going for fruitless auditions wears them out. The industry complains of a shortage of stars, but to become a star an actor has to get a break and for that some door has to open to them. The fact is that only big banners can afford to launch films with newcomers, because they have promotional budgets to pick fresh faces and turn them into stars—after all every star was a newcomer once. But why aren't the top banners with the deepest pockets searching for potential stars instead of just signing up existing stars and tying them up in multi-crore deals so they become inaccessible to the less affluent filmmaker. Only the Bhatts and Ramgopal Varma consistently work with newcomers, and care a damn about stars. That's because their economics allow them that freedom. The industry needs more producers like that. A talented filmmaker, who needed a teenager for his film, and had to sign a star, could come up with no other name except Shahid Kapoor and if Shahid turns him down, his film cannot be made. It's a crying shame that the industry that prides itself on being the biggest in the world, is in the grip of just half a dozen saleable stars! |
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