This is the time, the moment, the place. Capture it now and forever. Look closer and lend a patient ear, for if you have the talent, the training and the drive, sky is the limit in the world of sight and sound. Dr Mohan Agashe is upbeat, encouraging and looks ahead as he talks to students of the National Film and TV Institute of the sea of opportunity in the audio-visual world and shares his long experience as an actor and director in the film industry. While talent of course, is an essential prerequisite for films, television and theatre, the value of training asserts Agashe, cannot be underestimated, for there is not short-cut to hard work and more opportunity doesn't imply less struggle. Only constant and continuous training, improvisation, keeping up with the pace of change, multiple skills, can elongate the span of one's profession in the audio-visual world, "or you're bound to fade and burn away in just a couple of years or even lesser,'' Dr Mohan, also a well-known psychiatrist feels it's vital to shape and cultivate talent. For 40 years, rues the Padamshree winner, India for its huge population had just one National School of Drama and one Film Institute, where the acting course was scrapped in '76, but now the requirement for quality audio-visual programmes is so high that it's imperative to train people in the field. Wars and elections, he notes are being fought through the medium and image can sound can influence even those who cannot read or write, for it affects and touches the heart. "Private institutes are filling in the blanks and the need of the hour is good teachers, performance and practice. Any field you go, people are using audio-visual technology as means of communication and it's a subject that needs to be introduced at the school level,'' the actor agrees that the audio-visual industry is in the scribbling stage, but the future's bright and promising. Play on!
