FilmIndia (May-Dec 1938)

The Editor's Mail Readers "when you are worried" write to me. I will do my best in serving you. Serious matters will be treated seriously, while flippant letters will receive like replies,: — Tlte Editor. From: Esmail Ebrahim (Calcutta). / want to be an actor. What should be the qualifications ot one? .Is there any school in India, where the art of acting is taught? 1 admire your intention. A good actor is so rare in our film industry. It is unfortunate that there is no school in India to teach acting. Besides acting cannot be so much taught as mechanics. A good actor is always born. For the screen an actor should have well cut features' or a personality which distinguishes him from the average man in the street. A good actor is intelligent and a master of emotions. The actors we have at present are more or less types. They have never given versatile performances and they are either good or bad in their own types. In India, singing is an extra qualification. From: B. S. R. (Vizagapatam). What languages can the following actresses speak and understand easily: (1) Devika Rani, 12) Shanta Apte, (3) Prabha, (4) Padmadevi? When it is a question of understanding, girls understand matters of self-interest in any language on earth. But in speaking the girls score as follows: (1) English, Hindi, Bengali and German. (2) Marathi and Hindi, (3) Hindi and Urdu, (4) Bengali, Hindi, Marathi and Urdu. From: Harbhajan Singh (Nagpur). J have completed my education and I am on the threshold of a career. I feel inclined towards the cinema industry and think of becoming a producer, director or an artiste. . Can you tell me where I can get an all-round training?. Can you also tell me what are the qualifications necessary for a man before entering this industry? I am a regular reader of your esteemed magazine "filmindia." If you are reading "filmindia" your training has already begun. Persevere in this direction, as thereby, you will understand several unexplainable things in the industry. The primary qualifications are: a good education, tact and commonsense. If you have these in a fair measure, you are justified in thinking of films as a career. For an actor, in a previous reply, I have des cribed the essentials. A director, I mean a good one, is not found every day. India has only four good directors and their job is exclusive. To become a producer you must have money of your own, or you must be in a position to influence finance. The best post to begin is that of an assistant under a good director. With your eyes and ears open, you can become a director in time to come. And from the director to the producer is just a kangaroo jump. From: R. C. Nigam (Cawnpore). There is a great change in the voice of Shanta Apte in " The Unexpected" . Has she undergone a tonsil operation? Voices change as the girls change. Some girls become sweeter in looks but hoarse in the throat with the addition of years. Shanta is an exception. She has become sweeter both ways and that is why she is a top-liner today. I am not a medical student and I don't know anything about the operation you suspect. But if such operations could do the trick, then some other girls would have got themselves cut into pieces to get Shanta's musical notes. From: Om Prakash Sharda (Ludhiana). Why do the producers allow their 'stars' to go to others? "Stars" in the filmdom are as volatile as some of the stars in the heavens. When the film 'stars' become too affectionate and warm, the producers look after their own health by 'obliging' their contemporaries. But there are others like Proprietor Chimanlal of Sagar, who stand the heat longer and feel themselves under 'treatment 'and even start 'dieting' with the lower staff to feed the 'stars'. How are cartoons made? A large number of graduated drawings with progressive action are prepared by the cartoon artists and then they are exposed one after another on single frames. Shooting these pictures in small bits creates the illusion of continuous action when projected on the screen. 35