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

Arvind Pandey

Faculty

Mr. Arvind Pandey is an alumnus of NSD, New Delhi. Post his PG from NSD, he had done a research on ‘Method Acting’ under the aegis of NSD and subsequently studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute,USA. His association with Whistling Woods International began in 2006 as faculty in the acting department while it was headed by Mr. Naseeruddin Shah. His experience of acting in films, television and theatre spans across two decades. Mr. Pandey has taught acting at almost all top-ranking film and drama schools in the country. Besides acting and teaching he has also written, adapted screenplays and directed them. At present he heads the department of Acting.

Salim Arif

Head of Department- Culture Studies

Mr. Salim Arif is an illustrious alumnus of National School of Drama, New Delhi. A well-known name in the field of Indian Theatre and Films, Salim Arif is currently the Head of Culture Studies at Whistling Woods International, Mumbai. He is also associated with Ladakh International Film Festival and Navi Mumbai Film Festival as Director, Cultural Affairs.

Shyam Benegal’s Bharat Ek Khoj, Gulzar’s Mirza Ghalib, Dr. Chandraprakash Dwedi’s Chanakya got him international recognition as a Period Film Designer of substance. Nirja Guleri’s Chandrakanta, Ketan Mehta’s Sardar Patel, Gulzar’s Maachis & Hu-Tu-Tu, Govind Nihalani’s Takshak and Anil Sharma’s Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo are his other films as a Designer. He has been a consultant for period details in Anil Sharma’s Gadar and Mani Ratnam’s Guru.

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.