Acting has nothing to do with genes

EARLY THIS year, she was in the news for winning the national award for best costume designer. And now, she's taking a ``vacation'', doing ``what she wants to do''. She likes acting lessons for children because Sarika Kamal Hassan does not believe that ``acting has anything to do with the genes''.

Very few know about Sarika's new found passion for academics. Incidentally, her ``vacation'' also includes setting up a school for costume designing in Pune. ``It's more than just fashion designing, it's a different thing altogether,'' she tells Sudhish Kamath on her plans for life.

Sarika Kamal Hassan

Sarika does not believe that there are any good schools that would groom actors. So she got along with a few friends - the versatile Nasser for one, to get a ``theatre workshop for actors'' (TWA) started, where 20 kids, including the little Hassans Shruti and Akshara learnt the ropewalk between theatre and cinema last month.

``Things are done at a very childish scale here. We're looking at a more serious approach. No text-book theories. We just talk to them, tell them and work things out together, because this is the age for them to get some professional and serious training if they have the potential,'' she says.

And she has her ears to the ground about the industry requirements. For someone who is a frequent traveller, Sarika is well in the groove about the movies and people to watch for - Mahesh Manjrekar for one, she believes.

``If Hrithik is hot today, that's because there's a lot that has gone behind his good looks. He has spent enough time, he has worked four years to make sure that he is not making a fool of himself. He has been trained to be a professional,'' she says.

So will we see Shruti and Akshara facing the lens? ``I don't know. Shruti...Yes, she seems to be interested for now. But we need to see if she has the talent. If you don't have the talent, no amount of training can help,'' believes Sarika.

``Acting has nothing to do with the genes. I think it is very logical. When you grow up, you are that much more exposed, you get attracted and are unconsciously learning because of the proximity to that profession. A carpenter's son at the age of ten, very naturally picks up that art,'' she reasons.

Having got the series of acting workshops launched, Sarika now believes that first, the TWA needs to establish its credibility. ``We are in no hurry,'' she says. ``It's a big responsibility. We need to be sure of what we are doing, none of us should walk out''.

Sarika likes to do her homework well. That is why she is spending most of her time now setting up the School of Fashion Technology (SOFT) in Pune in association with the Maharishi Karve Group. ``It is a specialised course for costume designing for performing arts - cinema and television''.

``Costumes make a difference to a film. Our (costume designer's) input comes in as much as the others who contribute to the film. But there is no separate course for this here,'' Sarika says. The course will commence in August 2001.

What about other plans for life, like `Maruthanayagam'? ``I have a lot of plans. But I don't have a time-table as such. Right now I'm on a vacation,'' she insists.

Finally about being the woman behind the man that Kamal Hassan today is - ``As a technician, I've always been there for him. Personally? I can never put that down in words.''

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