For all those who were more than happy (or perhaps heartbroken) to hear about Ahad Raza Mir and Sajal Aly’s engagement last week, there is another good news in store for you. Ahad’s career graph is also going on an upward trajectory as the actor has recently bagged a nomination at Betty Mitchell Awards for his play Hamlet: A Ghost Story, which he had performed in Canada in April.
Ahad played the titular role in the play and has got a spot in the ‘Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Drama’ category at the upcoming Betty Mitchell Awards 2019 awards that recognizes excellence in Calgary’s Professional Theatre Community.
Talking to Instep the actor said, “It feels amazing; the biggest thing is that it’s like a pride for the country. It is a regional award; hundreds of shows took place in the entire province there. For me, it is a big deal because I started my career there (Canada) and I have been watching these people get these awards for many years, hoping that it would happen to me too, one day. Therefore, bagging a nomination is a big success, not just for people residing in Pakistan but for Pakistanis abroad.â€
Read: Sajal Aly & Ahad Raza Mir announce engagement
When asked how it felt to return to stage in Canada after garnering so much fame and recognition in Pakistan, Ahad shared that his heart lies in only the craft i.e. acting.
“I think I desperately needed to go back to the reason why I started this in the first place – like my love for acting – because sometimes I really don’t agree with the idea of ‘showbiz’. So, when I went back, it was a lot of hard work – memorizing hundreds of lines, remembering cues, etc. At the end of the day, I was driven. Like ‘yeah man, this is why I did it’,†Ahad said.
Ahad is glad that his hard work paid off and now he spots more Pakistanis auditioning for theater in Canada.
“For me, the real success was inspiring Pakistanis to audition for theatre there,†he added, sharing that this was his goal initially. “My artistic director auditioned so many Pakistanis of about 30 to 40 years of age who showed their interest in acting for the stage. I remember, when I was there, I observed that students coming from Pakistan and India don’t get the opportunities. So, I was glad to see Pakistani(s) auditioning for the next season.â€
Ahad recently returned to Pakistan after a successful run of Hamlet: A Ghost Story in Calgary and he will be performing again next year in September in Toronto, followed by a possible run in Dubai. “It’s not going to be the same show; it will be up-scale. The show we did was the studio version, which is for a very intimate audience, but now it is going to be a huge production given the huge number of Pakistanis there.â€
Will he ever perform Hamlet in Pakistan?
“I want to bring it to Pakistan but the logistics are a little complicated,†Ahad concluded, maintaining that they are working out something that it at least makes it to Dubai, bringing it closer to home so there might be a possibility.
The award ceremony is scheduled to take place on June 24, 2019.
