To Sunday Shillong,
The modern day film industry is witnessing many actors who have immense talent and their way of portraying any type of character role in feature films have won a lot of praise from the audience. With a script in place, when a film director calls out an action, it’s never easy for an actor facing the camera for the first time in his or her life to perform absolutely to perfection. Nervousness is always there in every aspect of life and acting is that part of any film where you can be allowed quite a number of retakes. But it was not the case a few decades ago when films were not made in digital format. A single retake would cost a lot in terms of a production budget. With the advancement of technology and various techniques, film making has become very easy. Just with a high-end mobile set, people nowadays can make films and likewise, any person can also act in those. One or two decades ago, there used to be cases where actors had been preferred more in terms of looks and attitude than actual talent in acting. But nowadays there is stiff competition and one has to pass screen test and must have in himself very good acting skills in order to succeed. Every year many youngsters enter Mumbai from every corner of the country with only one dream and that is to become a star. Only a few among them make it big and achieve fame in the film industry.
Outstanding South Asian actors such as Prithviraj Kapoor, Girish Karnad, Utpal Dutt, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Tom Alter and others have devoted much time of their career in theatres and are an inspiration to many. Theatre acting involves great dedication and willingness to entertain people. In theatres, there is a live audience seated in the auditorium and even the slightest mistake in performance is not allowed. One can rehearse many times before the show but on the special day, no retake is possible. Perfection is the key in theatres. Numerous acting institutes have been established all over the country. Most institutes offer lucrative schemes and provoke youngsters to join acting classes. They also assure the candidates of giving them promising character roles in big banner movies. Youngsters should always try to identify such fake institutes and should not get carried away. Hard work, intelligence, observation, dedication, eagerness to learn and explore, confidence and charisma are some of the important qualities an actor needs to have. There is no short cut to success and in producing masterpieces!
Thanking you
Saikat Kumar Basu
To Sunday Shillong,
This is in reference to the article, ‘Apathy etched in stone’, which was published on April 21. I visited the Monolith Park in Nartiang last year and I was shocked at the poor upkeep of the place. Local visitors litter the place. There are piled up bottles in some corners. It is really disheartening to see the state government promoting only those tourist sites in Khasi Hills and giving little attention to the historical sites in Jaintia Hills. There should be awareness programmes among villagers on how to maintain the place as a tourist site. The government can encourage the local community to be an active partner in promoting tourism in this part of the state. After the ban on coal mining, tourism has become an important source of income. But an initial push is needed to make tourists aware of the beauty of Jaintia Hills and the historical importance of sites such as the Monolith Park and the Nartiang Durga Temple (inset picture). Both these sites can be popular tourist destinations and the state can utilise existing central schemes to develop infrastructure in these areas. The Durga Temple can be part of the Centre’s religious tourism scheme. This way, even the state will earn revenue.
Thanking you
SW Swer