Kamal Lochan: Theatre & Television Actor - Assam

Kamal Lochan an emerging young actor from Assam has marked his credibility in acting with his determined, focused approach and years of involvement in the acting arena at various level. It all started with a quiet restlessness. The need to understand acting beyond applause and instinct. He was inspired during his course at the nationally famed National School of Drama (NSD), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India wherein he found that theatre is treated not as fame, but as discipline, responsibility, and truth. There he primarily learnt that an actor must first unlearn ego, listen deeply, and live honestly within a character. What drew him the most was its rigour, where craft mattered more than comfort, and commitment mattered more than recognition. Traveling different places and learning or enacting varied characters, didn’t just shape his acting; it shaped his way of seeing life. He primarily began his acting journey in his college days at Cotton College, Guwahati, while stepping onto the stage with small roles, driven only by passion. With time, patience, and faith in the craft, those small moments of participating and winning medals grew into major roles. Being awarded in such participations as ‘Best Actor’ to being recognized at major platforms like the ‘Prag Cine Award’, ‘Biju Phukan Recognition Award’, ‘Kaziranga Award’, ‘Guwahati Press Club Award’, etc. Every beginning mattered, every struggle shaped him as an actor. The actor he is today.

Kamal Lochan

Assam has always been lovable and appreciative towards artistes from different genres. But at the same time, they are the biggest critics too. On what accords could you find difficulty in adjusting yourself within their cocoon?

Assamese audiences are not confused, and they are not easily impressed. They are emotionally invested, culturally alert, and brutally honest. The difficulty in adjusting within their cocoon is that they don’t tolerate artificiality.. No fake accents, no borrowed styles, no half-baked performances. They expect you to respect their intelligence. If an actor seeks validation without sincerity, Assam will reject them without hesitation. This audience doesn’t clap for noise; they respond to truth. The challenge is not surviving their criticism, but earning their silence, attention, and finally their respect. Once you do, the love they give is unmatched.. But until then, they will question you relentlessly..

The television and the film media brings the biggest fame and recognition in Assam for artistes. Besides having your firm base of the NSD, would you think your survival would have been challenging if you only keep yourself within staged theatre productions and not join in the television/film screen?

Yes, survival would definitely have been more challenging if I had confined myself only to stage theatre. Theatre gives you discipline, depth, and truth as an actor.. But in Assam, it doesn’t always give you visibility or financial stability. Television and cinema amplify your reach; they take your work beyond a limited audience and into people’s homes. That said, my NSD training and theatre roots are my backbone. Even on screen, I don’t perform for the camera alone, I carry the soul of the stage with me. I didn’t shift mediums to seek fame; I expanded them to sustain my art and my life. Theatre shaped me, but screen media helped me survive, grow, and connect with a larger audience. For me, it’s not stage versus screen—it’s stage within the screen. Overall, I chose to step into television and film not to chase fame, but to claim my space where art meets survival.

Kamal Lochan

You have been in this industry for quite some years now. How do you personally inspire the student generation to take acting as their full time profession and how much indulgence have you experienced from them so far?

As someone who has spent years in this industry, I believe my responsibility towards the student generation is not to impress them, but to prepare them. I encourage them to take acting seriously as a craft first, and only then as a profession. I remind them that in Assam, the earnings are modest and opportunities are limited, so one must enter this field with clarity, patience, and resilience. I inspire them by sharing my own journey.. The discipline of training, the value of theatre, and the importance of constantly upgrading oneself for the screen. I also advise them to be practical.. To keep learning, to stay grounded, and to have the courage to sustain themselves during uncertain phases. In terms of indulgence, I see genuine interest and talent among students. Many are eager to learn and explore acting, but only a few are willing to commit to it as a long-term profession. Those who do, however, show remarkable sincerity; and guiding them gives me hope that the future of Assamese performing arts will be in thoughtful, well-prepared hands..