A workshop on scriptwriting, one on short film-making, and another on Valentine’s Day dances… seems like the city is flooded with workshops these days.
And while a few of them can actually change your life, one wonders how effective are the others, albeit the high prices and reputed names.
“Workshops are always great ways to learn. But how useful are they is a grey area,” says respected playwright and film-maker Mahesh Dattani, who will be in town soon for a workshop on playwriting.
The market for workshops has grown, he says, since the time he started conducting them in Bengaluru about 25 years ago. In Hyderabad, workshops these days attract the youth in large numbers. Theatre workshops in particular do extremely well due to the glam factor attributed to them.
“Now, workshops get participants by the hundreds. But personally I believe that workshops can’t be held with so many individuals. It should be on a person-to-person level and should ideally be limited to 20 people,” adds Mahesh.
The Samahara theatre group is among several that conducts regular workshops preceding a production.
“The response is always great. We get above 50 registrations for a workshop with a limit of 20 to 25,” says Nikitha Hinduja, an organiser, adding that people are reasonable with their expectations. “Most come to groom themselves and for the exposure.”
The workshops that promise to provide a platform for a future in the field come with a price tag, but people are ready to “cough up”. Ashis Pahi, an artist, photographer and short film-maker, says, “Nothing good comes for free.”
Ashis says he holds workshops for raising awareness of art forms. “People do not understand what is photography or film- making in the real sense. People think having a good SLR camera can make them a photographer. Some people come with a lot of passion without understanding the ground reality. Some come for glamour. And when they come to know how the industry really works they get frustrated.”
However, he doesn’t guarantee a career or a break in the industry with the “6,000 short film-making” workshop slated to take place next week.
Workshops are, at grass-roots level, meant to fine-tune the skills of the participants. From interpersonal and communication skills to providing practical information regarding a field that Indian classrooms fail to provide.
However, for a few youngsters looking to break into a field in which they do not have an academic background, workshops have been a boon. “It’s better not to expect something like campus placements with these workshops,” says Rahul Chintareddy, a working professional.
Meanwhile, there are youngsters who have also benefitted from them. Udit Joshi, now looking forward to his first venture into theatre with his ballet Chitrangada, says if it wasn’t for a workshop this would have never happened.
“I met Pallavi Varma, the script writer and the director at a workshop. These events are a great way to meet like-minded people.”
