To groom them young, FTII starts workshop for children

The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) has for the first time come up with an acting workshop for children aged 10-16 years. The 12-day Basics of Acting Workshop beginning May 27 will introduce children to cinema they see on screen from another angle. They will be taught the basics of acting.

It is being seen as a pilot project to be replicated in a grander and wider scale, perhaps as an annual feature of the FTII calendar.

FTII director, DJ Narain, says, "The idea was conceptualised a couple of months back, and we are interested in understanding responses the pilot project will get. While acting is the mainstay of the workshop, a small element of cinema studies will be added to it so that children can be groomed as intelligent audiences for the future."

In addition, children will learn about elements of emotion, body language, voice modulation and dialogue delivery. All this will be done to develop acting skills needed for in front of the camera, besides teach the significance of team work.

Chandramohan Nair, a veteran actor and a faculty at FTII, will be in charge of the workshop.

Narain adds that students for the short course is limited to 20. "While it is a pilot project, the workshop will teach specifics of acting. Also keeping the target audience in mind, the entire course cannot be heavy with a lot of technicalities. It will be conducted in a manner such that interest of children at the workshop can be maintained."

While the last date for applications is May 21, the course fee is Rs 8,000 and doesn't include accommodation.

Narain says they will, depending on the response, convert it into an annual feature. "We would like to make it a four-week summer camp, which will have elements of film appreciation, basics of cinema studies, besides acting which would be the core element. Right now we will assess the pilot project after it is completed, weigh the good and the bad and work accordingly," he adds.

Details about the workshop can be found on the official FTII website and at the Short Course Unit at the institute.

Narain says there are plans to later reduce the age of eligible participants from 8-14 years. "I would like to say though, that the workshop is only for children. There is no connection between this course and the regular acting course at the institute. The whole concept is an experimental one so that children can understand films better at a young age and eventually become a more intelligent generation of cinemagoers," he adds.