From his childhood in the borderlands of what is now Pakistan, to his position today as the foremost teacher of acting – guru of acting – in India, the saga of Shri Roshan Taneja is not only the story of this remarkable man, but of India herself – vision, grit, struggle, and a never ending search for perfection.
From his 13 years of teaching at the Film Institute of India, Pune, to today, the list of Taneja-sahib's students reads like a list of honour – Shatrughan Sinha, Jaya Bhaduri, Naveen Nischal, Rehana Sultan, Danny, Shabana Azmi, Mithun Chakraborti, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri – these are only a few of his students from the Film Institute; when he shifted to Bombay, he guided such fine actors as Anil Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgun, Govinda,Tina Munim, and so many others.
Roshan Taneja speaks of all of these artistes in rich, personal terms – but he also speaks of his struggle in the Hindi-film industry – including doing an impromptu improvisation with Meena Kumari – and, above all, his sojourn to the USA in the early 50's to pursue his dream of learning acting, a dream he pursues even today.