The U.K.'s so-called "Bollywood Academy" offered a peek into its workings this week, with the first batch of students giving media a taste of their budding talents.

Students of the London campus of the Actor Prepares training academy performed dramatic and musical scenes for reporters and photographers gathered in the west London suburb of Ealing.

"Dancing and singing is an integral part of the Indian film industry," actor Hemendra Bhatia, international dean of Actor Prepares, told CBC News.

"Each film has about six or seven songs. They dance a lot. Any kind of season, any kind of feeling, any kind of happening, we dance and sing. It's a part of our culture."

Indian film star Anupam Kher started the school in 2005. It now has multiple locations in India and representatives of the Bollywood film industry make up the faculty.

Students at the London campus are about six weeks into an intensive, three-month acting course. Tuition costs approximately $12,000.

Though a career in the Indian film industry is a goal for many enrolled, students and school officials emphasize that the skills taught can translate to performing for TV, film or stage in different markets around the world.

"It's not centred on or focussed on just Bollywood, but because [it has classes like] Hindu diction and Bollywood dance, if you want to head in that direction, this is the perfect school for you," according to one student.

"I really didn't find anything like this in California or the States, so that's why I chose it," she told CBC News.

"Hindi is hard and to put that with acting, that's even harder.… I'm not letting myself go down, I'm trying to stay positive and keep going."

Kher has said he has plans to open new campuses in Durban, South Africa and Sydney, Australia.