Actors! Learn Only One Kind of Acting for Success in Bollywood

Be yourself

You are going to save a lot of money on classes.  

I always see ads offering classes in “Film Acting”, "Meismer" or "Michael Chekov" technique workshop, etc. to give you an  entry into Bollywood.
Schools and teachers always want to break up acting into many categories, which gives the illusion that there are many different kinds of "acting".
There may be a benefit to going to some of these types of workshops, but remember, these places make a lot of money by convincing people that they have something to teach see here.  They need you to believe that there is some secret way that film actors act, that you don’t know anything about; or that commercial actors know something you don’t, unless you pay thousands of Rupees for a workshop.

Well, here’s some good news:
There is only one kind of acting, and that is

“Behaving as if it's really happening to you”  

… And that's easy, it seems, and not easy

It'easy

Rather than trying hard to be in a character, copy some similar actor you have observed or being theatrical with gestures, voice and volume, just be yourself and shoot!

It could be difficult

You can not forget everything around you-camera, restrictions on movements, people, lights and sound etc...
Therefore, to be natural and be in yourself without forgetting surroundings may be difficult for some of the new actors.
The the key to be in yourself and at the same time, be aware of the scene around you is-

A totally relaxed mind 

This comes with practice relaxation wethods regularly and at the time of just before the shot. (See here)

What is the difference between theater acting and film acting?

Most actors begin their performing lives in theater.  So it's understandable that they worry about how to adapt their acting craft for film and TV which is acting for camera.

After working initially for theatre and then for films for many years I learned the secret to film acting. I remember revealing this secret to a student of mine 4 years back. John Dias, a Goan by birth and fluent in Hindi had a theatre background with few plays. He was rehearsing a scene when I told him to do it again with a simple direction tip  "Do it just for this room and the camera in front of you"     

What I was saying was, don’t perform for 20 rows beyond where you stand.  Just say to ONE row in front of you
Be in THIS room, just talking to ME.
And THAT is how you do it.  Simple.
(And if the scene takes place in a car, then you do it “just for this car”.)
Theater acting and film acting both require the same truthful approach to the circumstances.  In both genres (Types) you are "behaving as if it's really happening", but with film acting you don’t “project” your performance outwards to an audience.  Instead, you are selfishly only involved in your own experience.
Film acting runs on "empathy" (the ability to understand and share the feelings of another).  The audience's experience can only be your experience.
On film, the audience sees and feels EVERYTHING you are experiencing, so there’s no need to project what you’re experiencing outwards to an unseen audience.
However, you have to be careful. Many actors, when attempting to adjust their performance to film, make the mistake of becoming over-sensitive to the camera and become small, which means they over control their responses and this may stifle "spontaneity" and naturalness.
The great thing about “just for this room” is that sometimes in a room someone shouts “GET OUT!”, while other times someone whispers, “I love you.”
So you no longer need to monitor how big or small you are behaving.  In real life, people have moments where they experience big reactions AND tiny responses. Remember, film acting is simply a direct mirror to life.
Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and search for a successful personality and duplicate it--Rashmi Desai Sandhu