"What did I want to be? A lawyer. I’m Asian"

Hometown
Leicester

What do you do?
Self-employed writer/ director

How long have you been at it?
I’ve been self-employed for around ten years. I will probably return however for a short stint to my past employer GW Theatre this autumn, to act in a play dealing with extremism.

I haven’t acted in five years but was compelled by the difference the project is making. It’s a play called From One Extreme to the Other by Mike Harris. Based on the Oldham riots, it dispels the myths that the Qur’an is an evil book and so are all Muslims. It shows the extreme right-wing BNP and an extremist Muslim (played by me) coaxing youth to do the wrong thing in the name of religion.

It’s very well put together and there’s been a process where it has been piloted and worked upon by a number of educational and advisory groups. It toured schools as well as some venues with our last being at The Bridgewater Hall (a pilot performance for a mixed audience of dignitaries, MPs and many from the education sector. I even got to speak to the commissioner of police).

It went down very well and we were congratulated for being able to have the courage and dealing very well with a very delicate and complex matter concerning us all today.

What was your very first role in theatre?
Acting in Udayan Prasad’s Brothers in Trouble with Om Puri (the father from East is East )

What have you done in theatre?
I first worked as a voiceover artist and an actor and was
given the opportunity to write and direct by Leicester Haymarket Theatre. All my theatrical productions sold out–the first, The Ups & Downs of Mr Singh, managed to gain royalties and also toured to Copenhagen; the last, When Amar Met Jay, sold out the Lyric, Hammersmith, as well as touring nationwide. The Metro in London billed it as ‘One of the best nine shows in London’, alongside The Jerry Springer Opera and Brand with Ralph Fiennes.

As well as developing a new play, I have recently been making short films. My first short, Coconut, won the Platinum Award for ‘Best Live Action (Non-Dialogue) Short Film’, at Houston International Film Festival in 2006. Fray, my second short film about a boy dealing with domestic violence at home, is in post-production and features a 1960s Asian soundtrack.

Have you got qualifications?
I started out in an acting course at London School of Acting

Later I received bursaries from Arts Council England to enable me to train alongside the Haymarket’s artistic directors, and most of my training has been ‘on the job’

I have also attended a range of courses facilitated by Arts Council England, Arts Training Central, Arts and Business, EM Media and Intermedia

How did you really get started?
I joined the community theatre group at the Leicester Haymarket. Initially it was to get more acting experience, as my film work was very stop/start and never gave me the opportunity to really get my teeth into something.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
A lawyer. I’m Asian.

What do you do all day?
There’s no typical day. I’ve spent the last week talking to producers, lawyers and Tips Music Industries, based in Bombay, India, to try and clear some music. Too much legal wrangling, not really the fun part to creating work!

What’s the best thing about your job?
The creative aspects, writing and directing. Even the research.

And the worst?
Administration and legal issues

What’s your dream job in theatre?
I enjoy what I do but would like the challenge of being the artistic director of a good theatre so I can push more diverse work out to those ignored audiences.

Got any wise words for someone who wants to be where you are now?
Work hard. I was asked this question from two media universities that had come to see my show at the Lyric. I remember making eye contact with the professors and said ‘it’s not about clocking in and out of university. How much do you love this? Is it the love that drives you? Do you get up in the middle of the night because you need to write that idea down? If so, it’s inevitable you’ll get what you want’.