Choreographer Terence Lewis wants to become an actor

Mumbai: Choreographer Terence Lewis, who attained fame as one of the judges in reality show Dance India Dance (DID), says he wants to become an actor and later on pursue direction.

Terence started his career as a choreographer and is specialised in Indian folk, Neo-classical and contemporary dance forms. He runs a dance institute named `Terrence Lewis Contemporary Dance Company`. He choreographed dances in some Bollywood films like `Lagaan`, `Jhankaar Beats`, `Naach` and others. Apart from this, he also choreographed international stage shows, Indian contemporary performances, mega Bollywood shows and several music videos. Now after a successful stint as a choreographer, Terence says he wants to try his hand at acting. "I would like to explore myself as an actor. I have been through dancing for a long time now it is time for me to explore other avenues. As a kid I used to sing, dance, I was into dramatics. I would love to pursue being an actor but not as such as a hero," Terence told reporters here, last evening. "That is not something I aspire to do. By an actor I mean a nice role, where I am convinced and I feel I can do something different and challenging," he said. Well, it is the on screen portrayal of characters that lured Terence towards acting, he likes living someone else?s life on screen. "I want to become actor not because I want money and become more famous. No I don?t want that. It is not that l want stardom, I want to contribute to good cinema,? he said. "I feel when I look at the characters played on screen by actors, I wonder how it would be to think or live that person`s life. By being an actor, one can explore various personalities of a human being, be that person, behave and live that person`s life and then you are back to your normal life," he added. As an actor, Terence wants to be part of films that are different and not the typical Bollywood masala ones. "I would like to be part of unparallelled, unconventional but yet fun cinema. Cinema that can be uplifting and not depressing, I will not do any kind of art film that is depressing, which makes you feel horrible. I want to be part of movies that have important and interesting subjects but are not depressing and are rather satirical and funny," he said. "I don`t want to be part of typical Bollywood films, where the actor beats up ten people, dance, superhero type," he added. Even before he takes up acting, Terence has a list of directors like Anurag Basu, Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bharadwaj, Farhan Akhtar with whom he would like to work. "There are lots of roles...Characters in their films that are interesting. I would want to change my look, become like a common man, go de-glam," he said. Apart from this, Terence also aspires to take up direction someday. However, he feels that he would not be able to take up the task. "I would like to, but for me, the responsibility is tremendous. When you turn towards direction, then one has to take responsibility for every department and I think right now I wouldn`t be able to take that stress," he said. "Direction, for me, is a huge thing if it was only direction then it would be ok for me, but to handle the whole gamut of not just the technical aspect, but also of emotions of other people like actors and all. I would rather wait for some time. But for sure I will direct a film...Not now," he added. Meanwhile, Terence will be seen judging yet another reality show `Hindustan Ke Hunarbaaz`. The show that will provide kids a platform to showcase their talent. Actress Sonali Bendre will also judge the show. "We felt that people don`t get exposure to show their talent. Right now singing and dancing has got a big platform but there are other talents too. The concept is different. There is no stress and pressure. It is about looking at talent, understand their story and background," he said. There is no winner, no marks or points for any performance on the show. "We don`t have any competition of sorts in this show, there is no elimination. There is no report card, or marks. So pre-auditioning happens, the casting agent source out talented children from various parts of the country, they are called in they perform and we give them our feedback," he said. "Some are talented and some are not that talented. So we just say you are doing great, we motivate them to excel more in that area and ask them to move on. Also, we want everyone to connect with the stories of these kids like where they come from, how they learnt this particular thing, who is their inspiration and all," he added. The show will go on air from October on Life Ok channel every Monday to Friday. PTI