Describe a character from a movie IELTS Cue Card

IELTS CUE CARD TOPIC

Describe a character from a movie

You should say:

Who is this character?

When did you watch the movie?

What was the character?

NOTE – The examiner gives you one minute to plan your answer, and to help you prepare for the topic, the examiner provides you with a pencil and a notepad. You’ll have to answer the questions given on the topic for one-to-two minutes.

Sample Answer 1( Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad from the movie 3 Idiots)

Introduction

Although I have watched many movies with interesting characters, one is exceptional and worth mentioning.

Who is this character?

The name of the character is Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad from the movie 3 Idiots”.The nickname of the character is “Rancho.”

When did you watch the movie?

I watched this movie during my final year of college. The film was highly successful and is in the top ten motivational movies.

What was the character?

The character was a college student studying engineering. He shared the hostel rooms with two roommates who became his close friends.

His roommates have numerous problems in their lives. The first roommate, Farhan, wanted to be a wildlife photographer, but he pursued mechanical engineering as per his father’s wish.

His second roommate Raju Rastogi was good at engineering but needed to be more confident due to his poor financial condition.

Rancho brought a paradigm shift in his roommate’s life. He convinced Farhan to confront his father and tell him he wanted to pursue wildlife photography.

Secondly, he told Raju Rastogi to remain fearless during the job interview.

After seeking flashes of inspiration from Rancho, both followed his advice and got success. Farhan got permission to pursue wildlife photography, and Raju passed the interview with flying colours.

The character of Rancho is interesting because it teaches us to remain as cool as a cucumber in challenging situations to handle conflicts adroitly.

The punchline of Rancho is “All is Well,” which means that we can handle everything from soups to nuts by telling our mind that all is well and that it will find a feasible solution to the problem.

Sample Answer 2 ( “Mahavir Singh Phogat” from the movie “Dangal”)

Introduction

Although I have watched numerous characters in various movies, one is exceptional, hence worth mentioning.

Who is this character?

The name of the character is “Mahavir Singh Phogat” from the movie “Dangal“.

When did you watch the movie?

I watched this movie two years back. It gained enormous success worldwide, and due to its hype, I watched it.

What was the character?

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan played the character of “Mahavir Singh Phogat” in this movie. He played the role of a wrestler who dreamed of winning a gold medal for his country in an international tournament. But due to family responsibilities, he couldn’t pursue it.

After that, he planned that his son would fulfil his dream, but his wife gave birth to four daughters. He became depressed after that and stopped chasing his dream.

But one day, his two elder daughters beat a boy very hard, and after seeing it, he realized that her daughters had enough muscle power to become wrestlers.

He left his job and started training his daughters, but they needed to make earnest efforts. After a few days, his daughters realized they must follow their father’s advice, and they practised with determination, dedication and discipline from that day.

They went on becoming bis success, and his elder daughter got selected to represent India in the commonwealth games, but she was upset because she did not get proper training from her coach.

Seeing her plight, her father supported her and started teaching her various tricks to beat her opponents. In the end, despite many ordeals, she managed to grab a gold medal for her country.

Sample Answer 3 (Mahendra Singh Dhoni from “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story”)

Introduction

Although I watch all kinds of movies, biopics are my favourite. One character from a biopic is worth mentioning.

Who is this character?

The character is Mahendra Singh Dhoni, played by the late actor of Bollywood, Mr Sushant Singh Rajput, in the movie “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story.”

When did you watch the movie?

Being a cricket fanatic, I have always admired M S Dhoni for his amazing cricketing knowledge and leadership. Due to this reason, when his biopic came in the year 2016, I watched the first day of the first show.

What was the character?

As depicted in the movie, M S Dhoni starts his sports career as a football goalkeeper for his school team. His life experiences a paradigm shift when his sports teacher advises him to become a wicketkeeper in cricket which he prudently follows. He puts hard work into learning the meat and potatoes of wicketkeeping.

After that, he gets tremendous success as a cricket batsman and wicketkeeper and got into the Ranji Trophy cricket team of his state.

Furthermore, to financially support his family, he joins Indian Railways as a ticket checker. But as the job affects his cricket, he leaves it.

Due to this hard work, he gets selected for the Indian cricket team. Initially, he remains a failure, but later on, he wins a match for the team with flying colours.

After that, he didn’t look back and won two world cups for India as a captain.

His character tells us that despite a humble beginning, we can become successful by putting in earnest efforts. Moreover, it teaches us to remain calm even in challenging situations.

Follow up Questions

Here are some examples of follow-up questions that the examiner might ask during your speaking part 3 related to the cue card “Describe a character from a movie”.

1. Is it fun to be an actor?

It is a daunting task in the formative years because actors have to face a lot of struggle to find work. The entertainment industry is full of nepotism, and it is a daunting task for a newbie to find legitimate work. However, those who work with determination, dedication, and discipline find work and live a prosperous life with an opulent lifestyle. So it is fun in the long run with a fierce struggle initially.

2. What can children learn from acting?

Learning how to act is a prudent approach for children. Firstly it makes them confident by helping them to exhibit their skills in front of the public. Secondly, working allows them to handle challenging situations adroitly because it helps them to adopt a different character while interacting with someone.

3. Do actors get paid after they do the movie or before?

As far as payments to the actors are concerned, they differ according to their stardom. The established artists who have carved a niche get the amount they wish for, and sometimes they take a share out of the profits.

On the contrary, struggling actors earn that small amount which helps them to make ends meet. They do not have the option to charge the desired fee.

Lastly, newcomers usually do not get any money for the roles they do. In some cases, the newbies pay money to get their first break in the film industry.

Vocabulary

1. Worth mentioning

Meaning: Important enough to require a comment.

Sentence: The role of artificial intelligence in today’s era is worth mentioning. On the one hand, it makes our life easy by doing our menial tasks like playing a song. On the other hand, it is about to take many jobs.

2. Everything from soups to nuts

Meaning: A variety of things.

Sentence: Our central should be on carving a niche rather than doing Everything from soups to nuts to gain success in our lives.

9. Meat and potatoes

Meaning: The essential aspects of something

Sentence: Carving a niche in your field of interest is more important than learning its meat and potatoes.