Actor Suhail Nayyar, currently gearing up for the release of his upcoming film 'Udta Teer', has spoken warmly about his transformative years at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, calling it nothing short of a world unto itself. The actor shared his reflections during promotional interactions in the Andheri West area of Mumbai.

FTII: A World Without Exit

'FTII is like a different country in itself,' Nayyar said. 'If there was currency, people wouldn't come out of it. So many things are happening. Cinema becomes an inherent part of your life in the institute — you are talking about films while sleeping, discussing performances.'

He described how two to three years at the institute fundamentally altered his perspective: 'I can just look at my life — Before FTII and After FTII. I was really lucky that I knew about it, and I was able to give the entrance exam. I was really lucky I got selected.'

The Learning and the Unlearning

Nayyar emphasised that FTII's value lay not just in what it taught but in what it compelled students to shed. 'You get training there — what you have to learn, and what you have to unlearn. You will learn it first then you will understand. Being in that environment is something else. That place has so much history,' he said.

He recounted shooting exercises at the storied Shantaram Pond and working inside Prabhat Studios — the same studios where screen legend Dev Anand once filmed. 'I have done a playback exercise in the same studio where Dev Anand shot for something. It's a historical institution. I would like to call it the Oxford of acting,' Nayyar added.

On Working With the Kapoors

Nayyar also revisited his experience of sharing screen space with two generations of the Kapoor family. He worked with the late Rishi Kapoor in the streaming film 'Sharmaji Namkeen' and with Ranbir Kapoor in 'Ramayana: Part 2', describing the father and son as having 'completely different personalities.'

Contrary to expectations of intimidation on set, Nayyar recalled Rishi Kapoor as disarmingly warm. 'No, not at all. He used to talk about food. All the time, and his shooting experiences,' the actor said, adding that conversations with Rishi often circled back to films and his decades-long career on screen.

What to Expect From 'Udta Teer'

With 'Udta Teer' on the horizon, Nayyar appears at a career moment that brings together his FTII-honed craft and a growing filmography that spans prestige streaming projects and large-scale mythological productions. As his profile rises, the institute that shaped him continues to draw attention as one of India's most revered — and, by his reckoning, hardest to leave — creative spaces.