“Guru Paramatma Pareshu” – A Sanskrit shloka as it describes the Guru – who is beyond the level of “Param-atma” – the supreme soul that enlightens the lives of people around him by sharing his knowledge & experience. And today, our Bollywood superstars feel the same for their “Guru” – Kishore Namit Kapoor – lovingly named as KNK.
A very humble, soft-spoken, sensitive, spiritually charged - Kishore Namit Kapoor, was born on 28th July 1949 in the family that migrated from Peshawar to Delhi post partition. Born in the difficult times of insecurity, the youngest son of Kapoor’s has been brought up in an environment where work is worship. As a sensitive child he used to minutely observe many things around him and naturally understood sensitivity of different emotions.
As a young brilliant child (at the age of ---) he once performed on All India Radio for a child show and that was the point he realised his strong passion for acting and cinema. He started performing in many such shows and very soon KNK’s popularity on All India Radio as a child artist put him in good demand. He started performing for Indian Television – “Doordarshan”. Later he was even graded as First Youngest “A” Grade Television artist on Indian Television. During those days when acting was not considered as a very noble profession in the sophisticated society, KNK’s this success made his father feel proud about him. Although his father was much committed to the family responsibilities during those turbulent times and could hardly spare time for his children, he recognized his child’s talent and encouraged him to go ahead.
A young KNK was seeking education which would give him time to nurture his love for Acting and Drama, so he chose for Bachelor of Arts curriculum. During college days at KM College, Delhi, KNK performed in many theatre shows and became a known figure in the field Theatre, Drama, Films etc. Despite KNK did his Post Graduation in Philosophy, his creative mind was constantly looking for a place where he would learn every aspect of Indian Cinema and Art. His search ended when he took up a Post Graduate Degree Program in Films and Television Institute of India (FTII) in 1972, which is the “Motherland” of Dramatic Art, where he fine-tuned his skills on Commercial Cinema.
Being recognized as an intellectual artist during his stint at FTII, he was being talked about in the Filmy Circle and soon he received assignments of “Art Cinema” which was well acclaimed in those days. He was also working as a Faculty at FTII two days a week. His technique to explain the character and pump the through process of his students was so unique that his students would actually ‘live’ the character for some moments and use to forget who they were. During this period he also worked with Ameen Sayani – a well known voice on All India Radio and did many voicing assignments. As a start up professional he played the lead role in first ever full length feature film “Guru” produced by Indian Television.
All these efforts gave him a deep understanding about the art of acting. One day, noticing his skills of effectively imparting “the technique of acting” his mentor “Saani Sahab” (name to be confirmed), advised him to teach acting and go a big way in this profession. Saani Sahab ran a commercial institute.
KNK says “Main to chala tha apni Manzil ki aur… Log milte gaye… aur karwan banta gaya” (I started my journey towards my goal, people joined me and a we became a cohesive team). Although he started teaching acting he felt that there should be a systematic and academic approach to the art of acting, though this holistic form of art cannot be taught in a mathematical equation form. That’s how, he came up with a thought of starting the “Acting Lab” where KNK mentors new-comers in different areas of Acting and Cinema. Over last 25 years, KNK has contributed significantly in various aspects of performing art through teaching Acting, Voicing, Films, Theatre etc. Over the period he created some excellent actors like Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Priyanka Chopra, Divya Dutta etc. The auditions to enter his Acting Lab – which is now Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute, are quite demanding and the “Fire-in-the-belly” only gets the fuel to glow further. There is no exception even to the star kids.
There are many good actors Bollywood has given to Indian Cinema. Of course Kishore Namit Kapoor is one of them but instead of gathering awards; he chose to create a generation of actors through a noble profession of systematically guiding the new comers in the world of “Lights – Camera – Action”.
Today Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute not only covers various courses such as; Regular Course, Advance Course, Weekend Course, Theatre, Voice Acting, Film Acting – Body Language, Action, Editing, Cinematography, Film Appreciation, Evolution of Acting etc; etc but also ensures that the ‘to be actors’ should be expert in peripheral skills like Horse riding, Swimming, Marketing, Media Promotions etc. Each aspect of Cinema is crafted to its details by the experts at the institute so well, that there is a least chance to overlook anything that comes under Cinema.
To achieve expertise in this field, KNK feels that one need to have a focused mind which will not let the success go into the head. He believes that this can be attained through meditation, Yoga etc; and hence these activities also form a part of the academic curriculum. The institute has state-of-the-art facilities for Sound Engineering, Cinematography, Editing and all other technical aspects of ‘Cinema’ which should make the student a ‘complete and competent Artist’.
On asking him about the philosophy of his life, once he said…“ I am a seeker. I seek knowledge from every moment of life... I have a mission - A Mission of sharing my life experiences with people through acting and make acting a “real part” of life. I want to crystallize the craft of acting and through that I wish to experience life to its fullest circle. I want to reach out to people to share my experience and hence this all effort of starting the Academy of Acting which is also a spiritual fulfilness for me. I feel that nobody can teach acting. One has to experience it by igniting the passion within him and take the utmost of what his mentor gives. It’s all about learning emotions and rejoicing it. Acting is not only about money, glamour, Fame etc… it is a therapy that gives you the perspective of your life through imaginary or real characters. An actor has to let go his EGO to live the character and every emotion, so that he can truly connect with the audience and re-impose the emotions of the given character so that the audience finds him one amongst them / a part of their life. I am looking for the talent, which has the real zeal / fire and who really wish to live “Acting” in all its meanings & perceptions”.
KNK feels that the academy should grow so big that even if tomorrow the “KNK persona” leaves this materialistic world, the “SHOW MUST GO ON”. His decision to take up the noble profession of teaching has a deep meaning as he believes that ‘The KNK Acting Institute should not only make the students learn acting but it should also make them a good human being.’
