Late Executive Brings Hollywood Training to Bollywood
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A Hartford businessman's Bollywood vision becomes a reality. A performing arts school he helps finance in India is set to open next year.
The blockbuster hit “Slumdog Millionaire” showcased Bollywood at its finest, and now it seems that Connecticut will play a role in India’s budding film industry.
The estate of the late Ahmed A. Ahsan, founder and CEO of Hartford-based Optimus Management Group, will fund a performing arts school in India, the Hartford Courant reports.
A month before he died in August, Ahsan spoke to the Courant about his plan to invest $5 million to establish an acting school in Mumbai, home of Bollywood, India's film-making capital.
"Many of Bollywood's actors can't afford to travel to the United States and get a world-class education in acting and film making; now we'll be able to bring the school to them," Ahsan told the paper.
He was inspired by growth in the Bollywood film industry and decided to apply his business skills to developing a top-notch acting school in India for talented young actors who couldn’t afford the expense of studying abroad, he said in a release issued in July. He also hoped to bring production opportunities to Connecticut and North America.
Ahsan and his business partner, veteran Bollywood film director Rahuul Rawail, obtained the licensing rights to establish a Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in India, home of “Method” acting training. They signed the contract in July, according to a news release.
"A lot of people I know, including Ranbir Kapoor, went to the U.S. to get trained in acting at Lee Strasberg. Besides getting the visa and admission in the institute, you need to be financially sound to realize your dreams. I was discussing this with Ahmed and that triggered off everything. Ahmed got in touch with them [Strasberg], one thing led to another and we shook hands within a very short period," Rawail told Screen India.
Ahsan’s widow, Ismat Ahsan told the Courant she is still committed to the project.
Bollywood films are like musicals. The audience expects to see catchy music and there are usually song and dance numbers woven into the script. The performing arts school is scheduled to open next year.
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