AMARDEEP JHA

Not many know that the immensely gifted actress Amardeep Jha or the hugely popular ‘shankari tai’ is a qualified teacher from the reputed National School of Drama.
Watching Amardeep teach is a revelation of sorts… as her student Hina Khan or the popular Akshara puts it, ‘she is the most amazing teacher. She teaches you how to simply ‘be’.
It’s a totally unique method that she uses.
She would tell you to imagine yourself in say, a fort and let you take a walk there. The walk itself would involve feeling the gravel and stones under your feet which would affect the walk. Then to imagine yourself as an animal and think and talk like one. These activities helped me open up tremendously, to experience emotions and feelings effortlessly,’ says she.
‘The body language is important. These are just simple ways of teaching you to open up- feel free and comfortable,’ says the teacher.
‘With young fresh artistes there is a huge plus that their rawness becomes their strength. They are open to experimenting and their eagerness allows them to enjoy the experience. The flip side however, is that it takes them a while to grow and understand the craft.’
‘The process is as important as the result of the experience is, ' explains the talented actor. 'When we play ourselves, we are inhibited but as we all have traits of some animal or the other, it somehow does reflect in our mannerisms. By playing the animal, we exhibit various mannerisms that are very basic and gradually transform into a human slowly. Finally other facets of one’s personality – aggression, passion and sorrow come to the fore as one eases into the character. These exercises are designed to help the actor grow.
Your character is your best friend so you imbibe his traits and flaws.’

The years 1976- 79 were spent studying the finer nuances of acting at the National School of Drama . Creative dramatics with tremendous focus on improvisations was the agenda while the following eight years were spent teaching and nurturing young talent at Welhams School.
The next few years saw Amardeep with the Theater In Education foundation run by Barry John in NSD , with the art form becoming more interactive as the group held workshops with teachers in various schools . ‘Childen are honest actors,’ says she. ‘Intellectualism doesn’t come in their way and their sharp observation helps them grow at each level.’
Amardeep has also had the unique experience of teaching special children though she admits it is one of her dreams to work with them in the near future.
Her passion for the art made her move to Mumbai where she has had the joy of working with talented filmmakers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Mahesh Bhatt and Rajkumar Hirani.

So what now, one questions.
‘ I would love to share my experiences and views with the younger generation. They are extremely hard working but a certain discipline, compassion and understanding towards the craft is always welcome. Interactive workshops would be a wonderful way of encouraging a healthy exchange between actors fronm different backgrounds.
‘Share the experience not just the process’ seems to be her mantra. One that she is more likely to advocate.