Masterclasses 2026

Learning to Act for the Camera

By Swaroopa Ghosh - Actor & Trainer

What does it take to act for a camera and not onstage for a live audience?  Apart from talent, grit and technique, there are several other elements that fine-tunes an actor’s onscreen oeuvre.

Take part in a holistic masterclass on the various processes that inform the relationship between an onscreen actor and the camera, conducted by actor and trainer Swaroopa Ghosh. This workshop seeks to provide participants with the means to engage with concepts such as blocking, camera-framing, and energy projection, as well as establish a sense of familiarity with essential aspects of performance such as spatial awareness, performance spaces, and the relationship between co-actors. 

About the Facilitator:

Swaroopa Ghosh is an actor and trainer by profession. She has been performing and training aspiring actors for nearly 45 years. She was trained by the late Shri Ebrahim Alkazi and has worked with various eminent directors. She taught theatre at The British School and actively contributed to children's theatre. In the past few years, alongside theatre, she started working in films and web series such as Piku, Vicky Donor, Love ve Hostel and more to expand her repertoire as an actor. Besides India, she has performed in various international festivals too.

Understanding Texts: Scripts or Screen Play

By Rajit Kapur - Actor & Director

How do you interpret a script and translate its idiom into action? Learn the fundamentals with a master of the craft. This workshop by eminent actor Rajit Kapur will focus on the process of reading and interpreting dramatic texts for performance. Explore how actors decode scripts, uncover subtext, understand character motivations, and identify rhythm and intention within dialogue. Through practical exercises and guided discussion, the session will help actors develop sharper analytical tools to transform written words into nuanced and compelling stage performances.

About the Facilitator:

Rajit Kapur is a well-known actor across theatre and cinema. His theatre credits include Love Letters, Class of 84,  a solo performance of  Girish Karnad's Flowers, A Walk in the Woods,  A Few Good Men and Mosambi Narangi. He has donned the Director's hat for many plays including The Glass Menagerie, Mahua and Naqqaash. He is also a Co-founder of Rage Productions, which has produced some of the finest English plays in the country. His performance as Mahatma Gandhi in Shyam Benegal’s The Making of the Mahatma fetched him the National Award for Best Actor in 1995.

Understanding the Relationship Between Music and Theatre

By Purva Naresh - Playwright, Writer & Director

Celebrated playwright, writer, and director Purva Naresh conducts a workshop on the incorporation of musical themes and motifs within the medium of theatre, allowing participants to explore the significance of dramatic beats and dynamic instrumentation in establishing narratives onstage, and encouraging collaborative engagement with the composition process. Gain new insight on the interplay between sound and stage. 

About the Facilitator:

Purva Naresh is an internationally acclaimed Indian playwright, writer, and director. She has written more than fifteen plays and directed seven, with her productions such as Aaj Rang Hai and Roshe Roshe being performed at major Indian theatre festivals. She is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskart and the Safdar Hashmi Award for Theatre Direction.

Internationally, she has been invited to write and collaborate with several prestigious institutions including The Royal Court Theatre and the Melbourne Centre for the Arts. She has worked closely on projects including Dum Maaro Dum, Criminal Justice, and Mithya.

1.4 Billion and… Me!

By Ajeet Singh Pallawat - Actor & Director

How does an actor exercise choice when they deliver a role to its full potential? How much of the self is quelled and how much conveyed? In this immersive workshop, theatre  actor and director Ajeet Singh Pallawat takes attendees on a journey that explores the power of choice in acting. The workshop serves as a detailed look into the fundamental elements of acting, highlighting the distinct lens that each individual brings to the craft.

About the Facilitator:

Ajeet Singh Pallawat is an actor and theatre director, who has collaborated with celebrated directors such as Anuradha Kapur, K.N. Panikker, and Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry. He is recognized for his performances in plays like Hunkaro, Virasat, Comrade Kumbhakarna, and Des, and is a recipient of the META Best Actor – Critics Citation, as well as the Aditya Birla Kala Kiran Puraskar.

Alongside acting, he has directed productions such as Purvaiya, Who’s Seen the Light, Mithyasur, and Kasumal Sapno. His media works include, ‘Criminal Justice’, ‘Luka Chuppi’, and ‘Sector 36’. He currently runs his theatre group, Ujaagar Dramatic Association.

The Imaginative Body: Performance Tradition, Subversion, and the Space In Between)

By Remith Ramesh - Actor, Director & Kuttiyattam Practitioner

Find new ways to interpret the core fundamentals of theatre. At the core of The Imaginative Body, lies a pedagogy rooted in Kutiyattam and contemporary performance training. The workshop, conducted by Kutiyattam performer Remith Ramesh, addresses the tension many performers face when engaging with classical forms, and the balance between preserving tradition and finding new expressive possibilities.

About the Facilitator:

Trained in Kutiyattam at Kerala Kalamandalam, Remith Ramesh has performed over three hundred times on stages around the world. An alumni of ITI Intercultural Theatre Institute, Singapore, his expertise spans acting, directing, and collaborations with renowned international companies across the world, such as Théâtre du Soleil, Michael Chekhov Europe, Encounter Theatre Australia, Potluck Theatre Japan, and more.