Hone Your Drama Skills With Top Acting Courses in Mumbai, India

Oorvazi Irani

Head of Department

Ms. Oorvazi Irani has a multifaceted career and wears many hats like that of an acting coach, an actor, a filmmaker, a film educationalist, an entrepreneur, and a film critic. She runs her own home production company SBI Impresario Pvt. Ltd which has been active in the Indian and international filed for more than four decades. Oorvazi Irani is a Graduate in Arts from Jai Hind College, Mumbai and further trained at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) & National Film Archives of India (NFAI) for teacher’s training. In 2015, Ms. Irani successfully produced, directed and acted in her debut independent feature film “The Path of Zarathustra”. The film was successfully released in PVR theatres in 5 Indian cities. She has been a pioneer in introducing The Michael Chekhov Acting Technique in India, a technique practiced internationally by Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson, Ingrid Bergman, Clint Eastwood, Johnny Depp, to name a few. Oorvazi has been in the teaching field for the past 14 years and her experience includes teaching at the Film and Television Institute of India, an International Baccalaureate school and is an International Baccalaureate Examiner. She is also a member of the Film Critics Circle of India and has been instrumental in writing books on cinema and been a jury for prestigious film festivals in India and abroad.

Kenneth Desai

Visiting Faculty

Kenneth Desai has been teaching acting at Whistling Woods International since its inception in 2006 as a part of the original core team formed by Naseeruddin Shah. He has also been a visiting faculty at the FTII and the Stardust Academy.

Kenneth Desai has an acting career spanning over four decades and he’s been an acting coach for the last 15 years as well. He’s an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, from where he graduated with a degree in English Literature and Psychology and the National School of Drama where he finished as class Valedictorian. He has been working on the Mumbai stage since 1980 and also across different mediums like film, OTT, television and as a voice artist. He teamed up with Whistling Woods International’s alumnus Abhishek Jain for the acclaimed Gujarati film, Kevi Rite Jaish (2012) which earned him the award of Best Actor in a Supporting role, conferred by the Government of Gujarat. Other significant works of his include Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Munnabhai M.B.B.S (2003), Mother Teresa of Calcutta (2003), Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014), Raag Desh (2017) and Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020) to name a few. He has been part of international projects on stage and on screen and has worked in multiple languages. He’s been associated with Naseeruddin Shah’s theatre group Motley since 1981.

Amod Bhatt

Visiting Faculty

Born in a traditional family devoted to classical music, Amod Bhatt has received classical training from Smt. Nirmala Bhatt and theatre music training from eminent theatre and film personality Guru Shri B.V. Karanth. He has composed music for over 100 major productions in various languages and has worked with Internationally acclaimed directors such as, B.V. Karanth, Habib Tanvir, Fritz Bennewitz, John Martin, Sunil Shanbag, Salim Arif, Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Satish Kaushik, and Gulzar. He was also felicitated with ‘Akademi Award’ in 2014-15 for Theatre Music, by the President of India Sangeet Natak and has also received the Indian Telly Award for Best Music Direction for the series Upanishad Ganga, produced by Chinmay Mission. He has also composed music for numerous feature films, Ads, TV serials & music albums.

Amod Bhatt has worked as a Music Head at Rangmandal, Bharat Bhavan. He has designed and conducted workshops for various actors & singers and has been a faculty for various University & Performing Arts Institution in India such as, National School of Drama (Delhi, Varanasi, Bengaluru), S N School of Drama (Hyderabad central University), Drama School (Mumbai), Academy of Theatre Arts- (University of Mumbai), Bhartendu Natya Academy (Lucknow), Kala Academy (Goa), and Madhya Pradesh School of Drama (Bhopal).

Ankit Varshneya

Visiting Faculty

Ankit Varshneya studied Computer Engineering from Army Institute of Technology, Pune but decided to pursue his passion by taking up Lee Strasberg’s method of acting for two years from Rob Reece at Whistling Woods International. He has played the lead in feature films as Mithyam, Kaansya, and Alien and short films like Scared To Be Alone, Unmothered, Shunyata, Check In, Rab Da Vaasta, Amidst Dark, and Savita and acted in the Theatre play Manto Mantra (2012- 14) and performed all over India. Ankit Varshneya also featured in various Public Service Ads, YouTube series, and Television series.