I have always been passionate about acting, but it was not easy to pursue it as a career. I faced many obstacles and challenges along the way. When I was working in night shift in Delhi- NCR, I looked for some acting classes, but I could not find anything that suited me. I even tried to learn singing in 2011, inspired by Himesh Reshmiyaan. I contacted a classical music teacher through Just Dial and paid 300/- per class. I learned some basics, but I could not continue for more than two months. The night shift was affecting my health and budget.
Then in 2012, I got a chance to join Sriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra, New Delhi. I had to audition for it and they accepted me despite my lack of skills. I had to pay 9000/- for a year in advance and borrow money from friends. I was excited to learn from the best, but the night shift was still a problem. The classes were in the evening and I had to go to mandi house from my home. After the class, I had to go to work soon. It was exhausting and stressful. The night shift was against my natural rhythm and I could not sleep well during the day. There was too much noise and I needed silence to rest. Sleeping at night for a few hours was enough, but sleeping during the day was not satisfying. I was always worried about how much sleep I needed to stay awake at night. My sleep quality was poor since jan 2010. Now I added another challenge of singing classes, where I had to be on time and give my best. After two months, I stopped going to the classes. I wasted money and time there.
I got a job at MakeMytrip, but I still wanted to pursue acting. I saw an opportunity to audition for a play by Bhaav arts theatre group. It was December 2013, and I had to prepare a monologue based on their script. The audition was in Connaught place, Central Delhi. I arrived early and saw a long queue of candidates. I was very nervous as it was my first audition ever. I could see the performances from the waiting area, which made me more anxious. When it was my turn, I did my monologue and they said they would contact me later. I felt relieved that I had completed my first audition.
Later, when I was on an office trip to Jim Corbett national park, which I wrote about in my previous blogs, I received an email that I was selected for two plays. The only catch was that I had to pay 1500/- for 3 months of training. I agreed to the fee and joined the rehearsals at Lodhi Garden. It is a beautiful park in Delhi, especially in winter. At first, I was shy to perform in front of my co-actors, but gradually I gained confidence. I played two characters in two different plays: "Kaam ka bamboo mat le shambhoo" and "Wanted Indian". The plays were scheduled for March at Alliance Francaise de Delhi. I made many friends there, like Gaurav, Tejashwa, Rishabh, Balakaran. We are still friends and I enjoy acting with them.
D Day, We reached to the venue early in the morning because Bhaav arts has 3 plays to perform. Two of them I was playing one role each. We do our rehearsals and technical run as well. With lights and sound we did our rehearsals. Then first play started it was not many audience so it was okay okay. But First time, I performed in commercial stage where audience paid money to watch our play. Second play had good response because it was on evening and play was comedy play. From first scenes audience were enjoying and expressing their enjoyment physically like clapping, Laughing at jokes even whistle on some scenes. We were so overwhelmed by audience reaction towards our play. First time in my life enjoyed that kind of reaction and from early stage of my career. That’s why it’s more special to me. Third play had mediocre response.
After that day, our session ends and happily I came back to home. Waiting for new casting call to come. But it was an amazing experience and I always cheers for those moments when I was struggling with scenes, dialogues or expressions etc. I love when I first time given audition and performed on stage. We learnt many small details about acting, Stage etc. I should thank to our director Viral Arya who had given me this opportunity. I am thankful to co-actors who cooperated towards plays and did their parts seriously.
Nishant B. Kumar, Actor
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