The graduates spin new dreams

KARACHI: The recent graduates of the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) are ready to put their degree to good use and join the city’s performing arts community. While Napa’s students have acted in some exceptional productions, they now plan to strike out on their own. The Express Tribune spoke to a number of the graduates who said they were looking to either join a television crew or work in stage productions. Haider, who received vocal training, says he plans to release an album “sometime soon”.

Nazrul Hasan, who acted in Napa productions “Sultan Ka Faisla” and “Sufaid Khoon”, as well as an Urdu adaptation of Shakespeare’s , is not up to working for television productions. The actor said that he worked in theatre plays for the ‘love of it’, does not plan to work in television at all and does not believe in stereotypical notions of fame. Mehwish Siddique, who played the role of Desdemona in the Othello adaption, will take a break now that her degree has been completed.

She told The Express Tribune, “At the moment I plan to take a short break but if a good offer comes my way I might just accept it.” However Siddique is not banking on her Napa degree. She believes that acting does not have much scope in Pakistan. Since she already has a Bachelors degree in psychology she said she would probably enroll herself for a Masters degree in psychology. One of the most promising graduates of Napa is Zain, who played the role of Cassio in Othello and performed in the academy’s production “Khamosh Yeh Adalat Hai”. He plans to pursue a career as a thespian. “Well, since this is what I have landed into, I’m definitely saying a big yes to theater and TV.”