Shatrughan Sinha's message to FTII students: Be best of the best or different from the rest

Renowned actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who is also a BJP MP, visited his alma mater FTII today to share his experiences with the present batch of students enrolled at the institute. Once popular in the Mumbai film industry as Shotgun, Shatrughan shared his memories and also suggested the present batch of students on how to make a mark in the film industry.

BEST OF THE BEST OR DIFFERENT FROM THE REST

For a little over 2 hours, Sinha interacted with FTII students of the 2013 and 2016 batches. Sinha reminisced about the time when he was a student of acting and how he created a niche for himself after passing out of the institute in 1967. Along with Shatrughan Sinha, veteran actor Tom Alter was also at FTII to share his experiences as a student.

Sinha recalled that he had been invited to FTII as a guest lecturer in 1972. He said during his first few years in the film industry, he achieved success as an actor who had his own distinct style - one that made him stand out from the rest. In 1972 when Shatrughan was invited as a guest lecturer at FTII, Tom Alter was a student at the institute.

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Sinha has visited FTII even earlier, but this is the first time in all these years that he interacted with students at the institute in a classroom environment.

Giving a piece of advice to students, he said, "You be the best of the best. If one feels that one cannot be best of the best as there are too many artists around, one should try to be different from the rest. This is the way Shatrughan carved a niche for himself.

BE PASSIONATE ABOUT ACTING

While addressing acting students, Shotgun said, "If you want to be like Lata Mangeshkar or Kishore Kumar, you ought to have thorough knowledge of singing and surs. And for this, you have to learn the techniques of that art if you want to be remebered as a renowned artist."

Sinha indirectly asked students not to waste two years at FTII on unwanted things. He told them to be very passionate about learning the skills of acting and make full use of the two years that they have to learn this skill.

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All the diploma films in which Shatrughan Sinha acted during his two years at FTII were screened on the special request of the actor.

FTII has a tradition of inviting renowned film personalities to the institute. The purpose is to guide the budding actors and give them an overall idea of what the film industry is all about.

Before this, many acting legends have come to FTII to share their experiences with acting students.