Pankaj Dheer and Paintal to start acting academy too

A few days ago TellyChakkar had reported on how young TV stars Karan Mehra and Ali Merchant were planning to start their acting academy RIRO (Reel In Real Out) on January 10, now we hear, veterans Pankaj Dheer and Paintal will also be launching their acting academy, Abhinay Acting Academy (AAA) and in all probability, on the same day. Talking about AAA, Dheer says, “We will have trainers from different drama schools including NSD and from the film industry. Paintal and I are heading the acting and administration departments respectively. The academy is situated in Jogeshwari. The beauty of the course is that it’s not just a month or two months long course, but it’s a package of four months where we will focus on all the aspects of acting. We will groom the aspirants in diction, camera angles, lights and emotions. We will bring to fore the old method of schooling called navrasa, which is about expressing yourself through emotions. The old formula believes that there is an actor in every human being.” We tried contacting Paintal but he remained unavailable. When contacted on the competition from the veterans, Ali said, “I have worked with both Paintalji and Pankajji in Amber Dhara and Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat respectively and have immense respect for them. What we are doing is based on our struggle and experience of how young aspirants like us go about in the industry and what they go through. These young actors are clueless about entering the industry and we provide them with a platform to make that happen. We have veterans like Vibha Chibbar and teachers from Whistling Woods, FTII, NSD, TIE. We have taken extra care in incorporating comedy as it’s the most difficult genre of acting and for the same we have stand-up comedian Srikant Maski training students for the same. Our main aim is to strive for excellence so that those who pass out from our academy get the best possible opportunity and we are also planning to start an in-house production house.” Says Karan Mehra (Naitik of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlataa Hai), “I believe in healthy competition. The two actors are senior and experienced but our focus is about showing the way to aspiring actors into the industry. I think all four of us have struggled to make a foothold in the industry and going by our experience, we will try to help the students avoid the struggle period of the profession.” Well, we only wish good actors come out of both these academies as right now what we need is good, bankable talent.