I posted my previous version Telly Tales – 5 on 5th June 2010. Today its July 4, 2010. Barely a month is gone and I am sitting in my office on this wet and rainy Sunday and writing part 6 of my Telly Tales. I am not blowing the trumpet to show the world that I have attained something. I just want to celebrate the success of my students , who came to this city of dreams to make it big and to become something. I am proud of their success and happy to announce that they could make it big in spite of the fact that they are rank new-comers and they have no filmy background and still they are able to creat a niche for themselves in tinsel town.

ABHISHEK TEWARI in “ CHAND CHHUPA BADAL MEIN “  : This is a new show on Star Plus and is being made on the large canvas. Eminent lyricist JavedAkhtar is playing the narrator in this show. Years ago legendary Ashok Kumar also played a narrator in ” Hum Log “. Abhishek is playing main lead in this serial. He was in Batch No. 42 of Kreating Charakters. Initially, like everyone , he was unsure of himself. But at the same time there was a burning desire to make it big. He had been given very less time by his family, so bit of desperation was there but I must make this clear that he was very grounded and level-headed. He worked hard and was very disciplined in the class. He knew that his family has given him a short period, so he didn’t waste his time and started his struggle from the day one. God rewarded him for his efforts and now he is the lead player of this Star Plus show.    

DHRUV BHANDARI in “ RAKTA SAMBANDH ” : He is son of Mr. Mohan Bhandari, a famous film and television actor. Dhruv was in Batch No. 09 of KreatingCharakters. Urvashi Sharma, who made her debut in ” NAQAAB “ and Girish Taurani, whose father produced ” NAQAAB “ , were his batch-mates. After completing his course, he struggled for a while and worked in some films. But he couldn’t make his mark , as the films he worked in , bombed miserably. Now he got this fabulous offer and is working in this NDTV IMAGINE serial along with his father.

MIA EVONNE UYEDA - M TV VJ : She is a French-speaking girl and approached me for diction classes years ago. At that time she was M TV VJ and was presenting a show on Saturdays. She was very successful VJ and was very popular among youngsters. She had got couple of film offers and that’s why she wanted to learn Hindi. She is hard worker and very methodical in her approach. She again contacted me years after when she got a film offer. Now she is happily married and her husband Mr.EMILIANO COLLAZO runs ZENJI , a bar lounge in Bandra.

ANUSHA DANDEKAR - M TV VJ : Again a famous M TV VJ, she contacted me after she did ” VIRUDDHA “ with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. This was a MaheshManjarekar directed film, produced by A B CORP. She was getting lots of offers and wanted to give her best. She worked with me for many months but I think and doubt that her first priority was not films and she was very satisfied being  a VJ. So films took back seat and she was busy and happy doing what she liked. She is still there and we are still in touch.

SUSHEEL JANGIRA - ZOOM TV Anchor : Almost eons ago, she was my student. She hails from Haryana and was there in the batch with Manav Gohil, a TV star. She was new, naive and ambitious. She had no contacts in the industry and was curious to know how to become succesful. She always wondered  and thought about success. During our separate journeys, we lost touch. One day I saw her presenting her show on ZOOM TV with aplomb and finesse of a veteran and I got a shock of my life. A shy, introvert and naive girl from Haryana has metamorphosed into a diva and was there on the channel presenting her show. Her eternal question, how to become successful, is now answered by herself and that too permanently.

RAJENDRA KRISHNA VYAS - SAB TV Anchor : This young boy from Indore, Madhya Pradesh was in the Batch No.26 of Kreating Charakters. His show ” PAKPAK PAKAO ” on SAB TV is a show, which only he can pull off. His command over Hindi is exemplary and in this show, he roams around the roads of Mumbai and catches hold of a person and talks to him till that person is bored to death. His energy is infectious and he has an earthy charm, which adds to his success as an anchor. He has no background and has no filmi connection, yet he got work and is now a recognized face on television and is doing fabulously for himself . This is a very satisfying fact for me.

In my previous blog - VIDUR’S TELLY TALES – 5, I had mentioned that there are 14 students currently working in lead roles in different serial on various channels. Now 6 more are adding to the list. At present, there are 20 students working on different channels. Out of these 20, 16 are lead actors in serials, 02 are M TV VJs and 02 are anchors.

I think again that for a very long time, I wont be writing my TELLY TALES again . But who knows ? May be I would again be writing something next month. Who knows ?

Vidur

Mumbai

I wrote my 4th and last ” Telly Tales “ on January 29, 2010. As May ended, I suddenly realized that there are 12 serials in Hindi and 1 in Marathi, which are currently on air and they have my students playing main protagonists in them. When I wrote 4th part of  my ” Telly Tales “ , I thought that for a very long period, I wont be writing the 5th part. But my thinking was wrong. I am forced to write this 5th part just after 4 months. I can’t ignore 13 serials, which are ruling the airwaves currently. Let us take stockof my 14 students, who are working in these 13 serial.

RANJEET JOG in “ OLAKH “ : This Marathi serial is currently on air on STAR PRAVAH. Ranjeet Jog is a very old student of mine and he recently informed me about this serial.His father played the role of Bharat in the mega serial ” RAMAYAN ” , directed by late and legendary Ramanand Sagar. Ranjeet, apart from this serial, is working in many Marathi films also. An extremely talented and well-behaved boy from Nagpur , he is slowly and steadily making his place in the Marathi film industry. I am happy for him. He has everything going for him; personality, talent and good behaviour.

ROHIT KHURANA in ” UTTARAN “ : This highly popular Hindi serial is currently on air on COLORS. I used to watch this serial quite often, but I was unable to recognize Rohit, who is playing Vansh in ” UTTARAN “ . The day, when ZOOM was airing my interview on Katrina Kaif in their programme ” Planet Bollywood “ , I got a call and an unknown number flashed on the screen of my mobile. The caller introduced himself as Rohit Khurana and said, ” sir, I am an old student of yours ” . A floodgate of memories got opened and I was completely submerged in the sepia toned , obfuscated past remembrances. of this particular student of mine. Years ago, I met him in Food Inn, a famous food joint in Lokhandwala. He was new and had no work. He told me very respectfully that he wants to be trained by me only and would like to start his journey in this tinsel town as a student of mine. I was touched by his sincerity and started training him. After completing the training , he started his struggle. Gradually , he started getting works but I lost touch. That day while watching my interview on ZOOM, he called me and said that like Katrina Kaif, one day he would also make me proud. I was so touched by his feelings. Years had gone but his love and respect for me was not diminished at all. In this materialistic world, who cares for a poor and ordinary acting/diction trainer? But here was a boy, who is now famous, who is now popular and still he felt the need to call me and congratulate me on my achievements and promised me that one day he would also make me proud. I then watched ” UTTARAN “ and was happy to see him enacting his role so well. Rohit has grown as an actor and now he is well entrenched in TV industry.

SARWAR AHUJA in ” KESHAV PANDIT “ :  He participated in ZEE CINESTAR KI KHOJ ( Season 1 ) and won the coveted title. I used to go to train him for the show. After winning the title, as per the contract, he signed Mr. Subhash Ghai’s film ” KHANNA AND AIYAR “ and worked in that film with another co-winner Aditi Sharma. The film got released and bombed miserably. Later on he signed another film ” HUM PHIRR MILENGE “ with Ms. Tabassum’s grand-daughter Kkhushi. This film also tanked and thus seemingly it looked like the end of a bright journey. But you can’t put down a real talent. Sarwar fought valiantly and slowly people took notice. Now he is working in ” KESHAV PANDIT  “ being aired on ZEE TV. He is very grounded and in spite of the initial failures, never felt defeated. He has good sense of humour, which never deserted him even in his rainy days.

MISHAL RAHEJA in ” LAAGI TUJHSE LAGAN “ : I used to go to his South Mumbai flat to train this immensely talented boy. He lives in his opulent apartment near Breach Candy. His place is far away from my working place but as is my habit, I was moved by his behaviour and deep sense of respect for me. He completed his training and started working in TV serials. Currently he is portraying a negative character in ” LAAGI TUJHSE LAGAN” being aired on COLORS.

SMITA BANSAL in ” BALIKA VADHU “ : Years ago she was a famous artiste in television industry. Eventually , she got married and quit the industry. Few years back, she made comeback and is currently working in ” BALIKA VADHU “ as the mother in law of the female protagonist Anandi.

AKRITI SINGH in ” MRS. & MR. SHARMA ALLAHABADWALE “ :  She was in the 2nd Weekend batch of Kreating Charakters. This extremely talented girl is currently working in ” MRS. & MR. SHARMA ALLAHABADWALE ”on SUB TV. I never knew that she has such a fantastic sense of humour.

AMIT BHARGAD in ” TUM DENA SAATH MERA ” : He was in Batch No. 2 of Kreating Charakters. Like Ranjeet Jog he is also from Nagpur. After years of struggle, he got this serial, which is currently being aired on DD 1. Batch No. 2 is very close to my heart. Had this batch not been formed, there would have never been a Kreating Charakters. We, in fact, inherited Batch No. 1, so it was with Batch No. 2, that our journey started. And Amit Bhargad belongs to that batch.

VEEBHA ANAND in ” BALIKA VADHU “ : She created history in this serial as Sugana. Whole nation cried with her, when she became the widow. She became an overnight national sensation and was very popular among female audience. She was in the 19th batch of Kreating Charakters and since I have written about her in my earlier Telly Tales, I wont go in details this time. I am only mentioning her because she has recently made re-entry in the serial. In between she did another serial ” STREE “ also. Apart from this serial she is working as a second lead in a Rajshri Production movie called ” ISI LIFE MEIN “. Incidently, she was the batch mate of ” RAB NE BANA DI JODI “ and ” BADMAASHCOMPANY “ fame Anushka Sharma. She has great sense of loyalty and respect for her alma mater. She has absolute faith in me as a trainer and she always acknowledges that. I wish her great success and long life. May God bless this noble soul. She is bound to scale dizzy heights of stardom. She has a rare combination of talent and exemplary behaviour, a dwindling commodity these days.

RAUNAQ AHUJA in ” DO SAHELIEYAN “ : He was in Batch No. 23 of Kreating Charakters. His other batch-mate was Kush Sinha. Raunaq is extremely talented and is one of the most deserving students of Kreating Charakters. He had slight speech problem, when he joined the batch. But being a hard-working boy he overcame this slight impediment and now he is working in this highly successful serial ” DO SAHELIEYAN “ on ZEE TV. This serial is one of the top ranking serials of ZEE TV. I do remember his initial days in the class. Because of his speech impediment, sometimes he had to face laughter of his class-mates. But he continued his training without being bothered about this and finally he was able to silence his critics and overcame his problem.

VIJAY MISHRA in “ BITTO “ : This Bhojpuri speaking boy was in the Batch No. 28 of Kreating Charakters. He is currently working in a serial called ” BITTO “ on COLORS. This newly started serial is based on the rural background of Uttar Pradesh and depicts feudal and archaic tradition of the rustic hinterlands of Uttar Pradesh. Vijay Mishra belongs to a business family and didn’t know anything about films. Since he hails from Uttar Pradesh, this was another drawback. He overcame everything, surmounted all the odds and slowly started his journey in the tinsel town. Initially he worked in few Bhojpuri serials and then got this break. He has worked in a film also. “332 ANDHERI TO KURLA ” is now complete and is scheduled for July release. Vijay Mishra is playing an important part in this Sangeet Sivan film.

MANIT JOURA in ” 12/24 KAROLE BAGH “ : Manit Joura was in the Batch No,32 of Kreating Charakters. His other batch mate was Narendra Jetley, who is also very busy as an actor and as a model. Manit Joura’s serial was a popular serial of ZEE TV. He is an intense and thinking actor. His popularity was phenomenal , when his part was on air. To shoot this serial, he was in Delhi for months. Now he is back and is currently working in a YASH RAJ FILMS movie with Ranbir Singh and Anushka Sharma. People have this wrong notion that after doing a serial one is barred from films permanently. Manit Joura is proving them wrong. I foresee a bright future for him.

ARCHANA TAIDE in ” MAAN RAHE TERA….. PITAAH “ : She was in the Batch No. 35 of Kreating Charakters. I particularly remember this batch, because this batch had some of the worst students of my career. This batch had politicians, liars but actors. There were only few exceptions and Archana was one of them. She didn’t give in to her politician batch-mates and always gave me due respect. Before joining the batch, she was working as an anchor with E 24 channel. After completing the course she got a serial called ” SWARG” . She was popular in that serial . This new serial of hers started this week with much fanfare on SONY. She is the main female protagonist and I was so proud of her achievement when I saw her photos in every national news papers. This serial is very well mounted and its popularity is growing with each passing day. Her politician batch-mates are still running around and she got this huge break.

SACHIN CHHABRA in ” DO HANSON KA JODA “ : He was in Batch No. 37 of Kreating Charaketrs. He was already a famous model when he joined the batch. His ad films and campaigns were very famous and are still popular. Now he has got this serial of Rajshri Productions named ” DO AHNSON KA JODA “ . This serial is currently on air on NDTV IMAGINE. It has similar story line and characterization of ” RAB NE BANA DI JODI “ . He is playing the über cool Shah Rukh Khan’s character of the movie in this serial. In between he did a film also. Its name was ” RUSLAAN “. Sachin played one of the important roles in the movie which will be remembered as the debut film of Moushumi Chatterji’s daughter Meghaa Chatterji. Though RUSLAAN bombed but Sachin’s forward journey went unhindered. His serial is a popular serial.

SHEEHAN DIXIT in “ KARAM YODDHA “ : He was in the Batch No. 40 of Kreating Charakters. He came for the admission along with his father and grandfather. I was very touched when his aging grandfather told me that I have full faith in you and I know that under your guidance my grandson will be a transformed boy. I could see that the aging gentleman had immense faith in me and in his grandson. I was very happy when Sheehan got this serial “ KARAM YODDHA “ , which is currently on air on DD 1. His grandfather faith in him is intact. Thank God !! Sheehan’s family’s support could be gauged from the fact that his father came to help him for his show-reel. While looking at his photograph,  you can feel the numerous , various dreams of this boy, which are floating in his wide eyes.

It is very heartening that all the 14 students, who  are so successful and, are not from the filmy background. From Batch No. 2 to Batch No. 40 , students from almost every batch are working. Currently Batch No. 44, and Batch No. 45 are under training.We started Batch No. 46 today, i. e. on June 4, 2010. It means students of only Batch No. 41, 42 and 43 are yet to get work. But they completed the training only recently.

As I have mentioned in my website, the voyage has just started, the saga has just begun. Amen !!! Amen !!!

Vidur

Shah Rukh Khan…..’you become stars over night, but it takes you a lifetime to become an actor…’

EVERY ONE FEELS HE CAN ACT

Acting probably is the most fiercely competitive profession in the world, I guess because of one reason , every one feels he can act.

There was a phase when I was commuting a lot in auto rickshaws, being a familiar face on television most of the auto rickshaw walas who drove me around recognized me, to my utter surprise almost onefourth of them had this latent feeling ” agar chance milega to hum bhi acting karenge”….. why most of us feel that acting would come so easily.

If one wants to be a cricketer or a painter or a music composer he accepts the need of talent and training. No one in his sanity would think of being a champion athlete or a world beater swimmer or even a concert tabla player without having started practice at a very young age. To excel you need atleast a decade of training…..but every one feels that acting is easy, and would come naturally…it is not so!!

Way back in November of 1992 , I had attended an acting workshop with superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who was then just one film old, his precious advise still hum my ears ”you become stars overnight, but it takes a life time to become a good actor”…

You might break into tears when you have a fight with your loved ones or when you watch a tearjerker, but it is an entirely a different ball game to get those tears in a scene or an audition….. and yes! for an untrained actor it could be a nightmare.

Acting, like any other art form requires you to Study, Master and Control the CRAFT. Which could only be achieved through dedicated practice and perseverance.

So, my request is that if you desire to be an actor in the entertainment business, get your self trained first, prepare your self thoroughly.

”LUCK” only happens when ”PREPARATION” meets ”OPPORTUNITY”

Look for a trainer who INVESTS all his energies on you,who can rests his STAKES on you!!

Samar Jai Singh.

Kreating Charakters .

Everyone is welcome to be a part of this fascinating world of entertainment. A nation whose social fabric is deeply rooted in discrimination on the basis of cast, creed, clan and religion. Where the politicians propel their way through the corridors of power, by exploiting this vulnerable social structure. Where vote banks are created and capatalised on to reach the ranks of athourity. In such a country have you ever come across a Hindu……a Muslim……or a Dalit…. Shah Rukh Khan fan ??

No…..you would never ever!

Our industry has an enormous unifying and integrating effect on the society. The sounds of sobbing and the bursts of laughter, errupting from the dark recess of a motion picture theater, do not carry any such distinct identity of cast,creed,clan and religion, they are all ONE.

ENTERTAINMENT TRIUMPHS,over all differences and no matter who the source is. What more! three of our reigning superstars are from minority.

And yes,we do not have reservations and quotas in our industry. If you have the talent, and the tenacity to mould that talent into your ACTING CRAFT. If you can develop the ability to engross and entertain your audience…then the film and TV industry is waiting for you with open arms.

TAKE A STEP FORWARD…

Samar Jai Singh.

Kreating Charakters.

Not too long ago there was a time,when youngsters in small towns and even in metros, nurtured a deep dormant dream of becoming actors some day. Many such dreams reached an apathatic end.

I vividly remember back in April 1989 I expressed my desire to persue a career in acting, my father being a medical practitioner was aghast! He immediately put me on to one of his patient who was also a close family friend, running a film-distribution business, that gentleman without mincing his words told me this is no career! Pointing out, that only 10-15 top actors can make a living out of this profession.

Twenty years later times have changed, with advent of multiplexis and numerous TV channels pouring in, the entertainment industry is growing at a breakneck speed, gobbling every promising talent around . Isn’t it the right time to take THAT plunge?

Coming back to THAT hibernating dream, which am sure still lies within many hearts, isn’t it the right time to EVOKE IT…

EVOLVE IT…

REALIZE IT…

Atleast gather courage to give it a valiant and honest attempt. So, THAT dream does not become a burden on your soul for the rest of your life.

CUM’ON…..consider ACTING!

Yours,

Samar Jai Singh. Kreating Charakters.