Delhi student Suraj Sharma may be about to become Hollywood's newest star for his title role in Ang Lee's Life of Pi, but that did not stop him from receiving a public dressing down by his college principal.
Suraj Sharma starring in Ang Lee's Life of Pi
The 19-year-old actor had been facing expulsion from his first year at Delhi
University's St Stephen's College, known as India's
Cambridge, for missing more than half his first term lectures to promote the
film, but he was granted a reprieve on Thursday after he crammed to hand in
eight last minute essays.
Sharma, whose casting as Pi in the Hollywood adaptation of Yann Martel's
Booker Prize-winning novel has generated excitement throughout India, was
also forced to endure a series of lectures on the character-building nature
of hard work in six meetings with college principal Valson Thampu.
His public lecture came amid rave reviews for his film debut, in which he
plays Pi Patel, the spiritual-minded teenage son of south Indian zoo owners
who finds himself adrift at sea in a boat with a tiger.
He was a 17-year-old school student when he was picked from 3,000 applicants
after attending an audition to keep his brother company. Director Ang Lee
said he had "the innocence to capture our attention, the depth of
character to break our hearts, and the physicality needed to embody Pi on
his journey," Lee said.
Delhi student Suraj Sharma
But the young star had to work harder to save his college career after
breaking an agreement with his college principal to complete a series of
assignments while he was away promoting the new film in Britain and the
United States.
Mr Thampu told The Daily Telegraph the actor had made less than half of the minimum 66 per cent of lectures and tutorials students must attend remain at the college. Those who do not may be expelled or forced to take an extra year to make up the work.
The deadline for the work passed on Tuesday without a single piece of work submitted. Mr Sharma was about to be banned from taking his exams when he launched a last-ditch campaign to persuade the principal to change his mind. His mother told The Pioneer newspaper that she was distraught and that the celebrated director Ang Lee, who had acted as his guardian during filming in Taiwan, had offered to fly St Stephen's lecturers in to teach him on set.
Mr Sharma met the principal six times in three days to bolster his case, but received a series of lectures on what the college expects of its students.
"I expect him to take his life as a student seriously. It's in no one's interest to hold people back and [also] in no one's interest to make a mockery of the system. All of us have to be responsible for whatever commitments we have undertaken. Work is the medium of growth and empowerment. Anyone interested in the well-being and long-term happiness of a young person will not dilute the requirements of work at St Stephen's there is a great emphasis on character formation," he said.
"He had not cleared the requirement until 10 minutes ago. He submitted eight essays and I'm delighted. I've accepted them altogether, which is not usual," he said.
One of them, he said, was an account of how hard he had worked to shape the character of Pi.
Mr Thampu told The Daily Telegraph the actor had made less than half of the minimum 66 per cent of lectures and tutorials students must attend remain at the college. Those who do not may be expelled or forced to take an extra year to make up the work.
The deadline for the work passed on Tuesday without a single piece of work submitted. Mr Sharma was about to be banned from taking his exams when he launched a last-ditch campaign to persuade the principal to change his mind. His mother told The Pioneer newspaper that she was distraught and that the celebrated director Ang Lee, who had acted as his guardian during filming in Taiwan, had offered to fly St Stephen's lecturers in to teach him on set.
Mr Sharma met the principal six times in three days to bolster his case, but received a series of lectures on what the college expects of its students.
"I expect him to take his life as a student seriously. It's in no one's interest to hold people back and [also] in no one's interest to make a mockery of the system. All of us have to be responsible for whatever commitments we have undertaken. Work is the medium of growth and empowerment. Anyone interested in the well-being and long-term happiness of a young person will not dilute the requirements of work at St Stephen's there is a great emphasis on character formation," he said.
"He had not cleared the requirement until 10 minutes ago. He submitted eight essays and I'm delighted. I've accepted them altogether, which is not usual," he said.
One of them, he said, was an account of how hard he had worked to shape the character of Pi.
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