Acting Courses Can’t Teach You How To Act : Barkha Singh

Telly time

I have been in the industry for a long time now. I started my career with television commercials and veejayed for some time.

I didn’t make an effort to get into acting; it just happened.

When you do so many ads, you get noticed. The casting agents keep circulating your profile. One day, someone called me for the audition of Bhagyalaxmi (television show).

I did have to go for millions of auditions and wait for a role. I am thankful to God and I hope it keeps on happening and I get lucky all the time.

I haven’t done a course in acting. No one can teach you acting, it is either in you or not. Acting courses are very useful; they teach you technicalities but they can’t teach you how to act.

I don’t act; I just get into the character.

I never planned on becoming an actor; I preferred the field of advertisement and marketing.

I have always been educationally inclined. I like intellectual conversation. I love reading non-fiction.

I topped Maharashtra in my Class XII board exams. I hold a Bachelors degree in Mass Media and a Masters in Marketing and Business from Berkeley University and a Masters in sociology. With the kind of insecure profession we are in, I think we should keep our options open.

Plus there is a myth that actors and models are dumb. I want to break the stereotype and prove we are educated and intelligent too.

My father is in Indian Navy. My mom was a lecturer, but now she is at home. My older sister is a designer.

Most of my (extended) family serves in the military. They are happy and appreciative of my work.