Lucknow :

He wanted to join the media industry but landed up in Hollywood. Meet 29-year old Saim Hyder who is doing theatre and also acting in short films in the United States of America. He has recently completed playing the leading role in the classic Anton Chekov play `The Cherry Orchard’ for Falcon Productions, a wellknown theater group in New York City .

Hyder’s talent landed him meaty roles in the plays ‘Bonafide Women’ directed by Stephanie Ogeleza. He played the lead in short film `Larry Bought Lemon’, screened at the prestigious Indian Film Festival of Tampa, Florida in 2013) and another film, `Patrons’, directed by Polish director Rita Haider was screened at the International Palm Springs Film Festival last year.

Hyder’s performance received favorable criticism in US media. Broadway World, authority on all Broadway shows called his performance in the part-comedy-part-drama `The Rajah’s son & Princess Labam’ “dramatic and riveting”, while NRI Tribune, one of the largest Indian-American newspaper described his role in the same play as “one of the most loved performances”.

In Lucknow, Hyder went to La Martiniere College where his acting talent was nurtured under his teachers. In school, I acted in school plays and inter school competitions where I stood out and was praised,” said Saim. It was only when he moved to US in 2008 to pursue Mass Communication from the University of Arkansas, he realised performing on stage could mean more than journalism. ” was so passionate about the film industry that at UOA, took up research on the influence of Indian cinema he roes on the youth,” said Hyder, who later trained at the renowned New York Film Academy and Maggie Flanigan Acting Studio in New York City.

While at NY Film Academy, he was trained in the basics of film genre. It was a MF studio where he received intensive training under the best in the industry in the exclusive `Meisner Technique of acting which legendary actors such as Marlon Bran do, Robert Duvall and Tom Cruise learnt as students Meisner technique is an approach to acting which develops from an interna source such as emotional re call, memory, etc. Back home, Hyder is famous for entertaining family and friends, acting out famous dialogues of Indian and Hollywood actors. “In all our family get-togethers, he is made to enact scenes from his plays or films, his favourite, which he repeats most of the time, being from The Cherry Orchard, saying the lines, `I have done it, I have done it all. The Cherry Orchard is mine…’, to an applause from all of us,” said Aaqil, Hyder’s cousin, who is more a friend.

Hyder hasn’t restricted himself to theatre, he has also dabbled with radio. “I have anchored more than 100 minutes of live shows, called Bindaas Bol on Jus Radio, an online channel popular with the Indian American diaspora,” he said.

His upcoming work includes a Hindi sitcom for a South Asian TV channel which is even being produced by him. “With his focus and talent, we are hopeful that Saim will make a mark in the highly competitive entertainment industry in Hollywood. The talent of this Lucknow boy will shine around the world,” said his father Nafees Haider Naqvi.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Isha Jain, TNN / December 07th, 2015