Bollywood Bound

That millions of people have Bollywood dreams in India comes as little surprise. But Canada? This month, the Canadian Institute of Management and Technology in Mississauga, outside Toronto, launched the Bollywood Acting Diploma, a four-month course costing $9,000 and targeting students who want to break into the business. They are people like Dubai-born Maya Noel, 18 years old, who graduated high school in June and was all ready to study drama in college. When she heard about the academy, she reassessed her goals and thought, "I grew up with Bollywood not Hollywood." And she signed up. Her interest is a fitting tribute to the Indian institution that went "global" before that became a buzzword. Indeed, before Benetton and Big Bazaar, there was Bollywood, stealthily offering Indian audiences tastes of the West and nostalgic expatriates glimpses of the homes they left behind. Today, Bollywood has become the ultimate bridge for nonresident Indians, global Indians and everyone in between. While the rest of the world debates protectionism and outsourcing, Bollwood makes room for a new formula: take actors raised and trained in the West and welcome them back home. There's precedent for this, namely Katrina Kaif, the consummate global Indian -- "Hong Kong-born British-Indian actress and model," according to Wikipedia -- but more importantly "one of the popular actresses in current Bollywood." (But usually, the talent's looking longingly east. Consider former Miss World Aishwarya Rai playing a detective in Pink Panther 2.) “While the rest of the world debates protectionism and outsourcing, Bollwood presents a new formula.” The eight students enrolled are seven Indians and one West Indian – most born or raised in Canada -- who all dream of landing a role in a Bollywood movie. Their aspirations come amid increased fluidity of the film industries of the U.S. and India. Last week, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's Big Entertainment sealed its deal to purchase a $325 million stake in Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG. The man behind the class is Jagdev Raj Sanda, a child actor who emigrated to Canada and became a caterer, better known by his apt nickname, "Lucky." He got the idea for a formal school devoted to Bollywood acting after watching an amateur performance among his community of local Indians. "We are clapping and then everyone goes home," he says. "Some of the students will go back to their colleges and their dreams are gone." The students are in class seven days a week and study areas fundamental to India's garish film industry: lip-syncing, fake fighting and, of course, dancing. Their journey underscores the message of a 2001 documentary titled "Bollywood Bound" about four Indo-Canadian actors and their struggle to break into Indian cinema. One of the actors, Ruby Bhatia, explains why: "Weekdays we'd be totally Canadian, and on the weekends we'd be totally Indian....salwaar kameez, Diwali functions, Holi functions and the songs...we'd always dance to Hindi film songs and the more you knew about the movies, the more Indian you were...." To be sure, Bollywood has served as many an NRI's badge of authenticity. The diploma offered outside Toronto just makes it a little more official now.

Nitin Pate

l "You need a platform to get into this or else you will always be in the background like an extra actor," Nitin Patel, 50 years old, told me. "To break the ice, it's very difficult in India. Here, there's less competition." He was an engineer on a dam project in India. After arriving in Canada six years ago, Mr. Patel struggled to find similar work --and finally settled on a job as a security guard. Recently, he got laid off and now collects unemployment insurance to make ends meet. He heard about the course and explained his situation to school officials—also regaling them with stories about the dramas and plays he'd performed in India and Canada. They agreed to waive the course fee. Mr. Sanda says he guarantees employment to the students -- which sounds improbable given the number of would-be actors in India. But he has linked up with a satellite television company to produce his own films. If the students don't make it in Bombay, he says he'll take a chance on them. After all, what's a class devoted to Bollywood without a happy ending?