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

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.

Aru Verma

Visiting Faculty

Aru Verma is a trained professional actor with acting experience of over 15 years, he started his life in theatre and has been working in the Indian Television and Film Industry from the last 10 years.

He is an alumnus of Whistling Woods International and graduated top of his class in 2010, trained under veteran Indian actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Benjamin Gilani and Kenneth Desai. He has an Acting Diploma – 2 years Understudy to Rob Reece (member of Actors Studio, LA for 3 years Understudy to Shernaz Pater (veteran Indian Actor) for 1 year Understudy to Salim Arif (veteran Indian Director and Production Designer) for 1 year. He has trained for 3 years in professional theatre under Arvind Gaur (prominent Indian Theatre director and Social Activist) in the theatre society known as Asmita Theatre Group.

He is the first Plus size Model for India and the Brand Ambassador for ALL (future Group Clothing Brand)
He has also been part of more than 40 television commercials including the following brands KFC, AIRTEL (4) VODAFONE (3), MAKEMYTRIP.COM, SABTV PROMO, SONY SPORTS PROMO, CADBURY’S ECLAIR, ETC. His latest work experience in a principle role is in Dil To Happy Hai Ji (2019) for Star Plus Network in Indian Television. Supporting role in ITTRAT – TV SERIES (2019) KULFI KUMAR BAJEWALA – TV SERIES (2019) JAB HARRY MET SEJAL – FILM (2017) BEFIKRE – FILM (2016) WEDDING PULLAV – FILM (2015) BEZUBAN ISHQ – FILM (2015) BEGUSARAI – TV SERIES (2015) 2 STATES – FILM (2014), ETC.

Anil Mange

Visiting Faculty

Anil Charanjeett, an alumnus of Whistling Woods International, Actors’ Studio, is an Indian film actor, who predominantly performed in the Hindi Film Industry. Anil has acted in several movies such as PK, Raees, Singh Is Bling, Hasee Toh Phasee, Shershaah, Sooryavanshi, Mubarakan, Golmaal Again, and more and made an appearance in the song “Main Badhiya Tu Bhi Badhiya” from the movie Sanju the biopic of actor Sanjay Dutt.

Zachary Coffin

Visiting Faculty

Zachary Coffin is an American performer, filmmaker and trainer who has worked in nearly 40 countries – and lived on four continents – including in India for over a decade.

Zack has combined his global executive experience and award-winning storytelling skills to help his clients and students both grow and improve.

As a trainer and consultant, Zack has developed and conducted 150 workshops for clients ranging from Nobel Prize-winning NGOs to the central banks of three G7 countries, and from the smallest of startups and to the largest companies in the world. At consultancy firm KPMG, Zack was promoted every year and became the youngest Global Product Leader ever in the firm – reporting directly into the Office of the Chairman. He advised clients across sectors in governance, strategy, business development, knowledge management, organizational development and innovation, and has been the keynote speaker at conferences, written thought leadership white papers, and been cited in newspapers worldwide.

As an actor, Zack has performed in over 100 film, TV, commercial and theatre productions in India and the West. Formally, Zack trained at the Stella Adler Acting Studio in New York, and studied under the Oscar-nominated actress Nina Foch in Los Angeles. He also trained at three film schools in the U.S. – studying screenwriting at Columbia University and film production at NYU’s Sight & Sound Summer program, then moving to Los Angeles to focus on directing for three years at University of Southern California, where he won the Television Academy’s prestigious internship in directing and worked on an Emmy-winning TV series in Hollywood. He graduated with an MFA in Film Production (Writing/Directing) from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, and with a BA, magna cum laude, from Columbia University.