/> Anupam Kher's statements in London last week that through his acting school he wants to change the hammy style of Bollywood acting has raised quite a few hackles in Mumbai's vain entertainment industry.

But Anupam is unfazed. "Isn't it true that a lot of us ham in Indian films, and not because it comes naturally to us? Often we're asked to perform that way.

And the Indian audience to this day reacts more favourably to broad performances as compared with the more subtle ones."

Anupam made his controversial statements on a visit to London to open a branch of his school Actor Prepares in the city.

On 7 March when Anupam Kher turned a year older. "I flew to London to sign the biggest deal of my life. I returned on Sunday feeling satisfied with life."

A jubilant and exhilarated Anupam Kher returned to Mumbai from London after having finalized plans to open a branch of his acting school in London in September.

"We at Actor Prepares are tying up with the Ealing Institute Of Media. We signed the MOU in London on 6 March. In my opinion this is the biggest Bollywood-British tieup.

The Times London carried a full page interview last week. I was on the People's page in the Guardian along with Prince Charles.

In The Herald Tribune my London school- plans have been covered along with singer Bruce Sprinsteen. The Washington Post has also written a lengthy article on Actor Prepares.

Surely for a small-town biy from Simla you've to agree it's one big leap ahead."

Anupam is now totally consumed by the idea of carrying his acting school to foreign shores.

" I think my school has finally reached an international platform, and not just because we're opening international branches. But because of the interest it has generated globally."

The actor admits he doesn't have much of a business sense. "But then schools aren't run by business sense, they're run by a passion for excellence. We aim at training only the best students.

Only 25-40 students per session....After three years of the school's life in Mumbai Actor Prepares has achieved the international standards we had set for ourselves

. I feel in the next 5 years my school will prepare actors from all over the world, Actor Prepares in London and other global branches won't focus on Asians.

We're hiring teachers from all over the world. But I won't be an absenteee teacher. I'll be there on the spot."

He stops to look back fondly at his school. "I think the best thing I did in my life was to start Actor Prepares."