Schools for Showbiz

FREEZE FRAME

If I were asked to single out one major obstacle to India becoming an entertainment superpower, it would be the lack of adequate trained professionals. This may appear paradoxical as we have, arguably, the largest number of people worldwide employed in the film and television business. So how could there be a shortage of people?

The sheer pace of growth and rapid changes in the business paradigm means we need more. Because while India has a rich reservoir of diverse artistic talent, we have very few professional training institutions.

There are only two government-run film institutes, in Pune and Kolkata, a couple of polytechnics in the south and the rare media or mass communication course in universities like Jamia Milia Islamia and Osmania.

The film industry has been run for decades by people who have either learnt the craft on the job or at best been tutored by a benevolent artistic guru. Now with technology playing an important role, the lack of professional training is being severely felt.

Even with the limited centres of education, the film and TV industry has a fair sprinkling of trained professionals: actors, directors, cameramen, sound recordists, and editors. But it is only in the last decade that there has been an acceptance of entertainment as a career option. The fact that today virtually all the large broadcasters are corporates and the major production houses are no longer mom-and-pop operations is opening up new vistas of employment.

In fact, there is a visible difference in the kind of people who are now part of any entertainment company. They are young, enthusiastic, educated and professional. Now, almost all the technicians are professionally trained. Even actors are coming in via drama schools and training academies.

But the massive growth in TV software has multiplied the demand for talent and skilled technicians and we are just not turning out enough. We also need specialists in entertainment marketing, accounting, and law as well as TV and radio journalists. Where are the schools and colleges to train young Indians who want to be a part of this exciting business?

While some effort is being made by existing universities to introduce mass-com courses, there is a dearth of both experienced faculty and proper infrastructure. While a few schools like the one started by Rajiv Shukla and wife Anuradha Prasad in NOIDA and Prasad Productions in Chennai are slowly making their presence felt, governments "" both at the Centre and in the states "" must provide incentives so that many more such institutions come up.

The industry and its stalwarts too must be part of the faculty of these institutes. In this regard it is heartening to see filmmaker Subhash Ghai sparing no amount of money or effort to create Whistling Woods, which he hopes to turn into a premier media school.

Media and entertainment is an exciting chapter in the Indian growth story. We should endeavour to make it more interesting by providing the right environment for young aspirants who want to be a part of showbiz.

The author is Chairman of Reliance Entertainment and the views expressed are his own