I have always enjoyed the hospitality of Lahoris: Naseeruddin Shah

The veteran Indian actor-director hosted a discussion with college students in Lahore.

LAHORE: I have always enjoyed the hospitality and love of the people in Lahore, said Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah on Wednesday.

Speaking to students at Lahore College for Women University(LCWU) on Wednesday, the 63-year-old actor-director said that he believes Pakistan and India have similarities in their culture and language, and therefore they should work for better ties and every individual has to play his part in eliminating the fog of misconceptions.

He added that he wishes to visit all of Pakistan but cannot make this possible because of limitations of time.

However, Shah admitted that he wants to see young Pakistani theatre actors across the country. Vice Chancellor Dr Sabiha Mansoor and head of Benazir Bhutto Chair Muneeza Hashmi welcomed the actor at LCWU.

Students from Kinnaird College and Beconhouse National University also joined the discussion with Shah.

During his talk, Naseeruddin Shah termed acting as the comprehensive medium of expression. While replying to the students' queries he said that theatre is more difficult for an actor as compared to cinema because theater does not offers retakes.

Answering a query about whether he found theatre difficult as compared to other performing arts, Shah said had this question been asked about film he would have listed a lot of difficulties but as far as theatre was concerned he never found it difficult. Instead it has always been a source of enjoyment and pleasure to him.

He said doing theatre was such a joy that it could not be found in films. The kind of enthusiasm and team spirit one enjoyed doing theatre could not be experienced while doing a film, he added.

In addition to his views on the differences between theatre and film, Shah also spoke about Pakistani poet Faiz.

The veteran actor recited Ghalib’s poetry at the  students' request. Muneeza Hashmi said hopefully Shah would return to Lahore next year for stage performances and dedicate a night for reciting poetry of Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz.