BE LIKE TARZAN

Prateek Gupta, the marketing head of Hindu College’s dramatic society — Ibtida, says, “More than 100 students turned up for our auditionscum-workshop, which went on for three days. The aim of the workshop was not to test the students but to let them discover their real potential through pushing them to go beyond their limits.” The applicants were tested on factors like exaggeration, stamina, beat sense, clarity, etc. They also did mono acts and improvs. Only 24 were then shortlisted.

Some of the things the students were made to do included screaming like Tarzan in the college lawns, and be a monkey in the corridor.

“I was told to be a monkey. At one point, I felt a bit weak because I uttered a word and was immediately told, ‘Hey! monkeys don’t speak’. So, I thought, ‘Dude! ab toh gaye, maybe I won’t get selected.’ Then, in the interview round... the first answer I wrote was that I’d be a mirror if I were to be found on the shelf of a super market. The reply I got was, “Ek aaine ka kaam sach dikhana hota hai na, toh hume sach batao iss shehar ka, iss college ka.” I was taken aback, never having thought of this,” says Saran Mishra, who is now a proud member of Ibtida.