The Curse of the " Wanna - Bes" Part 2 - Finding Nemo

We are that generation of Indians who have been blessed to have cruised the wave of the opening of our economy to foreign investors, the advent of cable TV and the inevitable globalization that followed.

We watch the latest sit coms & films, eat fast food from international food chains, shop for the latest trends in fashion and more importantly imbibe the notions of success that come from the illusion of fame and glamour not just from our culture but from across the globe.

Now as much as I enjoy the benefits of all this connectivity reading the latest issues of GQ & Vogue or watching YouTube, I am deeply aware of the inconspicuous side effects of this level of exposure.

 We live in an age that defines “success” in a twisted way.

Looking at the rising statistics of drug use, plastic surgery and celebrity suicides one would think that it would be obvious that fame isn't the ideal marker of happiness or success.

The standards by which we qualify success have become more and more convoluted.

In this day, as long you as you are the right size, live in the right address, have access to designer clothes, shoes, gadgets or have a certain number of friends on Face book you can consider yourself successful.

It’s all about how it looks on the outside, about external validation.

There is this huge compelling need to be recognized and acknowledged as attractive or talented or worthy of being, well, somebody.

The problem with being obsessed with being “ somebody” one can forget how to be you.

                       “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” ~ Rumi

I’ve found that for most people, who want to be actors or models or in any job that involves being in the limelight; it’s about being seen. Somewhere in their childhood or in the structure of their first families they felt neglected, unseen or unloved.

As simplistic as that sounds, most artists’ start out that way but with time and a conscious desire to heal they move past that initial compulsion.

In my reality, only when I have been able to move past the needs of the wounded ego and align with my spirit’s plan and potential, I have then been able to bring something unique and extraordinary to whatever it is that I have chosen to put my energy into. 

That is the approach that has worked for me whether I was writing a new script or directing a project or when taking a photograph. 


It stops being about being on stage or in film but more about doing what makes your heart sing irrespective of who is watching or if anyone is watching at all. 





It becomes about the work, how much you & your collaborators grew and evolved in the doing & making of it and how it affected your audience be it 3 people or 3000. 

And the work stands, irrespective of how much money I made on the project or how much publicity we got doing it, or how the reviews read, because the intention behind it was crystal clear.

Acting is something different to everybody. I just know that if you watch an actor or actress getting better and better, I think that's them just understanding themselves better and better.

Cameron Diaz

I believe that each one of us is born with a mission and given traits, talents and flaws to enable us to fulfill that mission. The mission is in-extricably tied into what we each bring to the world and our contribution in making it better than how we found it.

For me success has become about living in alignment with spirit (Buddha nature, higher self, God what ever you want to call it) about following passion, living with conscious awareness and embracing the responsibility that comes when you understand how powerful you are. 

It doesn’t mean that I remain completely un-affected by issues of money or bad reviews or unsupportive people; I now look at those moments as opportunities for growth and as material to use in my work. Today using theatre and film to spread awareness is my passion; tomorrow I may end up being an apple farmer who is to say.

The greatest gift I have been given by my teachers has been to learn to spot the difference between the ego’s desire, the hearts longing and the soul’s calling. And in that I've found my freedom.

“When I was a child my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk, you'll be the pope.' Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”
― Pablo Picasso

The Curse of the “Wanna-Bes” Part 1

“Acting is everybody's favorite second job”

Jack Nicholson

For as long as I can remember whenever I tell somebody what I do, 

five out of ten times that somebody will tell me one of two things -


“ Oh my God! Audition me, I’ve always wanted to be an actor!"

or  

“I used to do plays when I was in school!

Will you hook me up for auditions? I love being on the stage”

 (But do not want to follow through on either demand).

And then I ask my usual question, “ ok but what is it that you do now?”

They answer…

“Oh I am a Lawyer "

“Banker”

“Wife”

“Mother …..”



My response to that is always the same, “ Well, then that’s what you put your time, money and efforts into becoming. If you wanted to be an actor you would’ve done that”.

Now I don’t say that to squash anybody’s long held dream, I say that because I understand that is the curse of our times; what I call “ the curse of the wanna-bes”.

Being known equals success!

“An ounce of behavior is worth a pound of words”
~ Sanford Meisner

In my experience as an actor, director and teacher, I find 75% of the so-called “wanna be” some bodies I encounter at work or at auditions or in my workshops are not really interested in the craft of acting or theatre. They are interested in being “known” as “the actor” and far more invested in the perks that come with.

The “ wanna be” exhibits traits that are so easy to spot.

He will show up habitually late, unprepared, having done no research on the script, his role and most of all no work on himself.

He will know what Brad eats for breakfast and how many hours Hrithik puts in to get that six pack but would never have bothered to learn about a Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, Abrar Alvi or Shakespeareana. Much of his attention is focused on being the next big thing and therefore his acting vocabulary is a mélange of ham performances mimicking  Salman’s swagger or SRK’s head shake or lip tremble or both.

He will be obsessed with the size of his biceps yet be blissfully un- aware of his ignorance in all things pertaining to the reality of being a working actor and still expect to be treated as the single most important person in the room.

 The difference between the “ wanna be” and the real performer becomes glaringly obvious.

As an actor that level of ignorance and lack of respect for the job used to infuriate me.

But when in the position of  director or teacher, I was forced to look through more compassionate eyes to find another point of view.
Finding  the root problem which is a lack of self validation was easy enough but what then was the way to heal the dis-connect?

I've found that any form of art can be a conduit to heal, grow and change.
Theatre techniques for example are used to strip the performer of cultural, familial & societal programming, more importantly to break self perceived limitations and work towards becoming as transparent & honest as possible.
 The simplest tools like breath,movement, dance, guided visualizations are used to remove blocks, encourage creativity & cultivate expression. 

So now when I direct a project or while facilitating workshops I pick those theatre exercises that are specifically hold the potential for a deeper connection.

My intention has become to create the opportunity for growth and hold space for those who wish to risk it; and for those who want to remain infected with "the curse " I remind myself to respect their choices.

The challenge &  lesson for me, has been to accept others as they are, where they are and find the place where I can honor their journey.

‘The actor has to develop his body. The actor has to work on his voice. But the most important thing the actor has to work on is his mind”


~ Stella Adler

The Artist and Her Other Half

                          The Artist and Her Other Half

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In this day of such convenient technology, I often wonder, why people still flock to theatres to watch live performances where the price of a ticket is about the price of a CD or DVD. Or better yet why not just free stream something online in the comfort of your own home?

Why endure  traffic jams & parking hassles  or juggle work schedules & family commitments to be in your seat on time.

When we buy a ticket for a show be it music, dance or a play, somewhere we take the risk that this might be the night where the artist may be not give her best performance. We take the risk along with the performer that the lights or sound may malfunction or one or many may mess up a scene or a step.

Why then, in spite of the potential for disappointment are we still so drawn to the world of artists and live performances?

“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”

― C.G. Jung

All of us are born with unique gifts and abilities but I’ve found that those who choose to become artists claim that path tenaciously, sometimes like medicine or like a life jacket.

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I have found that an artist, any kind of an artist, be it a painter, composer, dancer, architect or even someone who uses food to create a masterpiece, has the ability to see, hear, experience and explore the world in a way that is out of the ordinary.

How an artist is able to make use of that ability is termed as "talent" by those who qualify merit.

All artists (recognized or not) interpret what they taste, smell, see, and hear around them in ways that are unique to them. I believe those extraordinary abilities are their senses, interpreting the energies of the universe...

Where does an artist’s colour palette come from?

Or how does a musician create a tune, or set the rhythm?

It’s not from the mind! It comes from our interaction with Mother Nature, and from our response to the contrasts and contradictions in our environment.

Every shade of every colour exists in the planet around us, the space in between the sounds around us, create the beats; our every mood and emotion can be found in the light of the moon and the sun, in the dark of the sky and in the scape of topography around us.

Artists have the ability to experience these more vividly and their task is then to express and create something from those nuances.

Their canvas could be the drum, a string, the stage, a plate or a page.

Think of Mozart making music in his head even when he was deaf, Van Gogh presenting the myriad of colours in a sunflower in a way that no other person had done, that too when he was apparently on the brink of losing his mind.

Or take someone like Pina Bausch who found ways to express eras and revolutions through her body. We artists are explorers and interpreters of energies.

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”

― C.G. Jung

The main difference for me, between an artist and someone who is not, is that the artist will take all the good and the bad from her life and put it to work.

Great works come from the integration of the light and the shadow parts of us. By milking every experience, from excruciating pain that comes from loss to the euphoria of "first love’s" spell to find meaning, healing and growth is the artists journey of alchemy.

It’s a step towards integration, towards wholeness, towards the divine.

We all seek that connection in different ways, through romance, the pursuit of success, some do it in a temple or a mosque and some through a song or a poem  as an act of prayer.

So the question is again...

Why go to any kind of  art shows instead of perusing them online? 

Because somewhere we want see, meet  & experience the creator of the work.

 We want to hear the background story of where she comes from, what life experience brought her to this point.

We want to see where and how it influences the creation.

We look for the ordinariness in the extraordinary.

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 We seek to find the human-ness, hoping that maybe through the artist  we have a taste of the connection to spirit.

To see through their eyes what we feel in our hearts.

In contradiction

My acting teacher Barry John  once asked us 

“What is the most important factor in theatre?”

His answer …”the audience”, without them your work doesn’t have a point.

Now years later, that answer still troubles me; as an actor, writer and director I always honor the importance of the audience and yet I also see the value of following your passion regardless of whether it is acknowledged or deemed worthy by others.

I think one of the things that binds the performer and the audience is the pursuit of truth. The audience can always spot the lie, the in- authenticity of your performance and the performer always knows when she is faking it.

In my reality, the artist and the audience are two parts of a whole; two equal parts that bring creation full circle. Like the artist and its muse!

They are only half complete without the other.

But together they can hold the space for creation, for transformation, for inspiration…and most of all for the potential for magic!

Copyright © 2012 Divya Chandra

When we create or appreciate art, we set free the spirit trapped within. That is why art arouses such joy. Art—whether skillfully executed or not—is the emotion, the pleasure of expressing life as it is. Those who see art are moved by its passion and strength, its intensity and beauty. That is why it is impossible to separate life from art. Political and economic developments may seem to dominate the news, but culture and education are the forces that actually shape an age, since they transform the human heart. ~ Dr Daisaku Ikeda