Teacher’s Day 2023: ‘Acting cannot be taught but it can be learnt,’ says coach to the stars Atul Mongia

Edited excerpts from the interview:

It’s said you are born an actor, so can acting be taught?

It can be learnt, not necessarily taught. You can elevate that person and their performances but you cannot teach them. This is why I call myself a facilitator and enabler rather than a teacher. They have it inside them, we just help them access that and reach their potential. You cannot install seeds of acting in someone, change their personality or make them what they are not. We only help them tap their potential.

How and when did you decide that you wanted to do this?

It happened by chance. When I was in college, I did a workshop with Barry John in acting and learnt a lot from him. Then after my graduation, I knew I wanted to do something in arts but didn’t know where to start. I reached out to him and he was kind enough to let me join him at his acting school in Delhi. After being there for two years, I then moved to Mumbai. I think no one really thinks about becoming a teacher; it was strange but it came very naturally to me.

But given your age, did people, especially older ones in class, take you seriously?

I didn’t have so many problems. It does happen that you are 20-21, and have someone above 30 in your class. They might feel it but if you conduct yourself decently, the doubts go away. I didn’t have that much of a problem.

Every actor has their own approach, how does one build that trust to change that and see a character through a coach’s vision?

In my experience, most of the time, actors are open and it’s a very marginal percentage who aren’t ready. But when they see the person they are interacting with and that they can trust them to help them in their journey and in their character, they let go.

Could you break down what goes into the process of learning acting?

In most acting schools, or anyone teaching the craft, we do certain exercises. So we also do it. But very early in this profession, I realised a lot of people were getting in the scenes but whatever craft you use, they weren’t getting better. The fact is, as humans we are all imbalanced and stuck in some aspect of our lives. In the workshop, we delve into finding where the imbalance is and trying to understand what is the aspect that’s lacking. What is restricting us to certain spaces and limiting us in our lives? Our goal is to help them reach freedom and that is these workshops benefit everyone in the field of art.

There are short-term workshops and long-term projects, especially when you are working on a specific character. Does the process change then?

So the ethos is the same but the dynamics of what needs to be achieved are different. When you are preparing for a certain part, the goal is to get closer to the character. In general workshops, it’s to get you closer to the part in your life.

Most people behind the camera are said to have a thankless job. Is this too?

Not really, firstly we get paid for our job. We are not doing a free service. Secondly, we are just the enabler, it’s the actor who has to go and perform in front of the camera. As a mentor, my job is to help them reach somewhere and I do not expect adulation for the same. I think in our industry, we talk about jobs being thankless because there are many who get a lot of recognition and some don’t even get adulation. But I feel blessed that I am doing something that I enjoy and get paid for it too.

Also Atul, there might be times when a production house brings you on board to train its cast and it’s a bad actor. How do you deal with such a situation?

Of course, that happens but more than bad actors, it’s always the bad casting. And it may be for various reasons, maybe you had to have that actor to greenlight that show. It’s understandable and then you can just do your best to make that actor reach that character. If that also doesn’t happen, you talk to the director and tell them that you can reach 80 percent but for the rest, they’ll need to adapt the script accordingly. For example, if that character is from Haryana, and you have cast a Bandra boy for the same, you cannot teach them the dialect in one month. Then the whole focus would be on the language and not the performance. So our suggestion would be to maybe set the character in Delhi.

Can you name any of your star students you are proud of?

I don’t think like that but I would like to mention someone like Sonam Bajwa. She is the biggest Punjabi cinema star and a great actor. Despite being such a star she does a workshop every three-four months. She comes like a newcomer and with zero entitlement and all humility. Those are the moments that are heartwarming and I believe should be emulated by everyone.

Actors today are more open to go back and learn while prepping for characters. What kind of changes have you seen in their approach in the last 10-15 years?

Acting schools have been around for a long time, but now, there are stars who are also great actors. They are now thinking about becoming the character. I think that’s the biggest change I have seen. The era of superstar is gone and era of actors is gaining prominence. When the ones with the biggest platform, bigger reach give importance to acting and not just their image, that’s a revolution. I am saying the same things that I have said earlier but they resonate much more in today’s time. Because they are witnessing that change on the big screen. I always believe that any big shift will only happen when people on the top change.

As a mentor, you must also be dealing with actors and their dying dreams. They must be looking up to you with hope. Does that get overwhelming to deal with?

A lot of the process of our workshop is to let go of that trauma, of not making it. We also don’t give any hope, instead we prepare them for the journey and that they are not alone in it. Everybody has gone through it, and it’s just that when you see people on social media, you feel they are more successful and that could make you feel alone and lonely. To make them not feel that is a huge part of what we do, and after most workshops, I see them leave with a smile. They are charged and want to learn and grow and do the next audition happily.

Lastly, any three learnings that you want to share with actors through this interview.

1. I always say that you can only call yourself an actor if you are a practising one. By that, I don’t mean you need to have made it big or be on screen regularly. But one has to keep practising, find actor friends, do your scenes and work on your craft. Do workshops and don’t miss on your riyaz (practice).

2. There is always this pressure to look and be a certain way or even act in a certain manner. That’s the worst thing one could do is to be a prototype. You have to be yourself, realise who you are, accept it and bring that uniqueness to the table.

3. No matter what you do, be honest otherwise it’s not going to work. And don’t be honest just when you are acting but instil honesty in your life. Only then would that get reflected in your performance.