Essay On My Favorite Actor | Essay On Acting

Essay On My Favorite Actor | Essay On Acting

The stage as a profession was never looked upon with favour by the educated and highbrow classes in Pakistan. There was suppose to be attached to the profession a sort of indignity and looseness, which scared away men from the better-class families.Women votaries of the stage were few and those, too, from quarters anything but respectable. Most of the theatrical companies had boys to portray female characters. 

Barring a few exceptions; perhaps in the case of Eastern India, the stage here was of a haphazard character. The art of portrayal of emotions was reduced to mere artifice of melodramatic gesticulation and high-sounding phrases. Some provinces, including the Punjab, had no stage of their own and any enterprising set of players from Bombay and Calcutta could carry such provinces by storm.

The itinearant theatrical companies, it appears, have received a death-blow with the advent of the talking pictures. The only shortcomings that were experienced by cinema-goers, in the "silent days-lack of songs and all their discomforts have fallen into un-popularity. Excepting a few big companies in the largest towns, stage acting here is reduced to nought.

The work of providing amusement for the over-wrought millions is, therefore, being gradually monopolised by the cinema. Unhappily, ours is a land of deep-rooted orthodoxy and there exists a prejudice against every innovation. The forces of conservatism mustered strong in raising a storm of protest against the growth of cinema industry and to begin with it was impossible for any educated talent to find its way into the industry. The actors and actresses were mostly drawn from the existing stage in the Indo¬Pakistan sub-continent or, with the invention of the 'talkies,' from the public songstresses. Naturally, such an atmosphere was not inviting to girls and boys from respectable classes taking up this profession.

The conditions, happily, have changed and are still changing for the better. There is a sprinkling of educated boys and girls among our film stars and there is a constant demand for more. .The industry is certainly developing and this demand is likely to remain strong for a considerable time.

Cinema acting as a career affords great attraction. Film stars draw fabulous salaries. In Hollywood, which leads the world film industry, film celebrities like John Gilbert, Har'old Lloyd. Douglas. Fairbanks. Charlie Chaplain make nearly $500,000 a year, Mae West for here picture I am No Angel- received more than $ 75,000 and numeroug stars are paid higher than the President of America. In Pakistan also actors who cannot spell their names draw five figure salaries.

But the picture is not entirely rosy: there is a dark side to it. The glamour of the cinema has drawn many young boys and girls to the centre of industry at Hollywood, in Pakistan at Lahore; but few of them have had any amount of success. These are the places where are found strange inconsistencies in life, beauty in rags vainly knocking at the door of fortune while humpbacked ugliness rolls in wealth. A person who is a star to day may be in the gutter a few days later. On the other hand, starts have been made overnight. In one film a nonentity may sky-rocket to the heights of celebrity.

F'redditte Bartholomew and Shirley Temple, the child prodigies, were taken from very humble surroundings. The profession of acting for the silver screen is, therefore, a gamble. Only real work and talent can hope to succeed, as it is bound to.

A passion for acting and determination to take it a study of lifetime are essential. Sustained industry and perseverance, sociability and social attainments, such as being a good conversationalist, swimmer or sportsman. are the requisite qualifications for a guccessful actor. Good general education is an invaluable asset in the line; a mobile and expressive face and, above all, a good voice which can easily be taken up by the microphone. The voice must have flexibility and modulation and the intonation clear with complete absence of tendency to slur over the syllables which is proving to be the bane of our actors. Putting in a nutshel, the speech should have all the elements of effective speaking, such as purity of diction, resonance, inflexion and rhythm. It will be advisible for the aspirants to practise recitation.

Next in value in the case of the talkies comes the facial expression. Mobility of the face does not mean capability of making a number of varied grimaces; it is the various emotions of the human mind, like anger, surprise, pleasure, sorrow, despondency, despair, elation, that have to be registered at once in the eye, the face and the tone of voice. If the eye laughs mischievously while the tone and the words spoken convey a sense of extreme sorrow, the result is bound to be disgusting.

A good and expressive eye that can flash, flame, dart. laugh, weep and blink as the occasion demands is a great asset to a successful actor. Control of facial muscles can also great asset to a successful actor. Control of facial muscles can also be taken up to an art as in the case of the late Lon Chaney, the man with a thousand faces, ' but talent in Pakistan is yet in a very undeveloped state. We see here mostly stolid and wooden faces which can only be made to change their expression with palpable effort and most of the artistes go into hysterics to conceal their failure at registering the requisite emotion.