Mumbai, Sept. 19 -- The National School of Drama (NSD), a premier Delhi-based theatre institute that has produced some of the country's finest actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Makrand Deshpande, Om Puri, Irrfan Khan, Ratna Pathak Shah, Amruta Subhash and Anupam Kher, has announced a year-long acting course in the city beginning on October 15, auditions of which are scheduled for October 10. Director of NSD Chittaranjan Tripathy said, "The Mumbai course would follow the unique NSD methodology, which has evolved over 66 years through the experiences of veteran theatre artists." The course will be conducted at a rented facility in Andheri since NSD does not yet have a permanent campus in the city. For the newly launched course, the institute will be accepting applications till October 1. Operating from 603, Durga Chambers, Andheri West, the institute will be shortlisting 30 candidates for the batch after the auditions on October 10. Classes are to be held from 8 am to 6 pm for five days a week. NSD in Delhi admits only 33 students each year to its prestigious three-year course. "Mumbai is the home of Bollywood, Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati theatre. The city has a tradition of over two and a half centuries of theatre. Yet, students here had no direct access to NSD training. By starting this programme, we want to make our curriculum available to more aspiring actors," Tripathy said. The institute is set to charge over Rs.5 lakh for the year-long acting course, which has raised concerns among students. To this, Tripathy responded by saying that the fee is necessary because, at present, there is no government aid or assistance available for running the course in the city. He added that NSD is already receiving applications and the institute intends to approach the state government, requesting for land and other assistance required to establish a larger and a permanent set-up in Mumbai, going forward. The institute in Delhi is currently charges its students a fee of Rs.35,000 on an average and also offers scholarships to eligible candidates....