A compromise between the need for perfection and practicality will work wonders in life

Hans India

22-05-2025

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.....
- As You Like It
– William Shakespeare.
The roots of drama in the Indian subcontinent can be traced to the Rigveda period, or 1500 to 1000 BCE. The classical stage of Indian drama, however, began with the composition of 'Natyasastra', or the science of drama, which is attributed to Sage Bharata, somewhere between 200 BC and 200 CE.
The Indian theatre movement later went through three phases-the classical, traditional and modern.
Kalidasa, whose immortal works include Megha Sandesam and Abhignana Sakuntalam, was a great exponent of the art of acting during the traditional period. Luminaries such as Kandukuri Veeresalingam, and Gurajada Appa Rao in Telugu, Lakshmi Baruva in Assamese, Kerala Varma Thampuran in Malayalam, and Shankar and P. Sambandha Mudaliar in Tamil, are among many others, who are remembered for their contributions in the more modern times
From times immemorial, it has served as a space for entertainment and exploration of complex themes. It involves bringing characters to life through performance. It requires a deep understanding of human behaviour, emotions, and psychology, as well as the ability to convey these elements convincingly to an audience. In ancient Greece, in particular, it evolved from religious rituals into a form of dramatic performance in open-air venues, like the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens.
Acting is a multifaceted art. Its techniques and methods are diverse, each offering unique tools for actors to create believable and compelling performances.
Some of the techniques popular in the western are Stanislavski's System, Method Acting, and Meisner's Spontaneity, mastering which enhances the authenticity of performances.
In ancient Indian arts, one type of art often depended on the other form as necessary complements. Drama, for example, often went together with singing and dance , the three forms combining harmoniously to offer the audiences a rich product.
Whether drawing from personal experience, imagination, or script analysis, actors employ a range of strategies to inhabit their characters and connect with audiences. Understanding and mastering these techniques can help aspiring actors develop their craft and bring characters to life, on stage and screen depending on which platform they are performing.
Training to be an actor can take various forms, and aspiring actors often pursue a combination of methods. Drama schools and conservatories, for instance, offer intensive programs focused on acting techniques, voice, movement, and scene study.
Many universities offer Bachelor's or Master's degrees in theatre or drama, which provide a comprehensive education in acting, directing, and production.
Several talented, and experienced, individuals have also been known to undertake the task of training people to be actors.
For example, Stella Adler was arguably the most important teacher of acting in American history. Over her long career, both in New York and Hollywood, she passed on her vast acting knowledge to generations of actors, including Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, and Robert De Niro.
The Juilliard School (USA), Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) are consistently recognised for their rigorous training and high-quality instruction. Several top acting schools in India also offer comprehensive training in acting and related fields. The National School of Drama (NSD), the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), and Anupam Kher's Actor Prepares are widely considered among the best.
Every profession has its share of people, who have done reasonably well without any formal training, at the time of induction.
For instance, I had neither the opportunity, nor the desire, to get trained in an institution, to prepare for the civil services examinations, with my father providing all the necessary support, encouragement, and help.
Likewise, it was by sheer accident that I entered into the movie field, as a six-year-old; naturally, with no formal training, whatsoever. The courtship with that profession lasted about three years, covering about 28 movies, in Telugu, Tamil and English. I had an occasion to recall that experience when, in 2004, Chiranjeevi asked me to inaugurate the website of his blood bank in Jubilee Hills.
During the function, he asked, 'Is it true that you were a child film star?'
I replied, 'Yes. But I have never acted so much in my life, as I am doing in my present job!'
Every profession calls for total dedication, complete devotion, a fierce commitment to error-free performance and a certain amount of pride in being a practitioner of that particular occupation.
The ability to work out a comfortable compromise, between the need for perfection and the imperatives of practicality, is a crucial requirement.
My comment also owed its spirit to the fact that I had, in fact, not only acted in movies, but also had spent close to four decades in public service. I had the credentials, therefore, to make a comparison between the demands that the two professions make.
The point I was making was that, just as Chiranjeevi's vocation demanded a good deal of administrative ability, the job of a civil servant also requires a reasonable amount of talent for histrionics.
The light hearted snippet, with which I usually end my pieces, will, I am afraid, be a bit of a déjà vu experience for the readers, this week.
Upon the formation of the new state of Andhra Pradesh in 1956, the High Court of the erstwhile Madras State was bifurcated, and my father, a lawyer by profession, moved to Guntur, the headquarters of the new High Court. Soon thereafter, he was elevated to the Bench of the new court.
Koka Subbarao who subsequently rose to become the Chief Justice of India and was known for many landmark judgments, was the Chief Justice of Andhra High Court at that time.
I was then a sixth grader, in the Majeti Guravaiah High school. People generally knew that I had, earlier, been a child actor. Expectations, therefore, were high when I was asked to do a bit of mono action – that of enacting the famous speech of Hamlet at Caesar's funeral in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
I had got no further than the 'Friends, Romans and countrymen, …' bit, when I began to stutter and stammer, and generally made a hash of the whole thing. Head hung in shame, I was walking away from the stage, to where were my parents were sitting, when Koka Subba Rao, sitting in the front row in the audience, as the chief guest of the function, beckoned to me and gently whispered in my ear, 'be sure to button your fly next time you appear on stage!'.
(The writer was formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)