If an actor cannot adjust himself to the requirements of the director, the solution is very simple- go home. “Tell him to go home. Go back to farming.”
That was actress-celebrity television host-producer Manchu Lakshmi’s quick-fire response at an interaction with students at the Annapurna International School of Film+Media (AISFM) here on Saturday.
The question from the student recalled Hollywood director’s Francis Ford Coppola famous line that goes, ‘the only space that is not democratic is cinema’ and how directors were generally said to be very demanding.
The 70-minute interaction moderated by Chris Higgins, vice-president, AISFM primarily had Ms. Lakshmi narrating experiences in film industry and environment that she had grown up in.
“In cinema, you don’t ask people where they are from, or which caste they belong to,” she said, adding that good cinema would contribute significantly to making the world a better place.
‘A student of life’
“Being in the USA for about 10 years, I went to the best of schools and worked with Oscar-winning actors and directors. But I am a student of life, learning all the time and that’s what gives me the confidence,” she told an audience comprising young people with stories to tell, with dreams of making it big in the competitive world of cinema.
“Be willing to fail. That is the only way to success. Adapt to circumstances and situations, more particularly the audience that you target to address through your movies, but do not compromise on ethics.
“Remember that you should have a connect to the hearts of the audience and follow what your own heart says too,” she said.
