My anthology will have flavours of both India and the US
HIn the US, we have the agent system. In India, you need to get into everything yourself, right from auditions to post-production, but then it’s immensely satisfying. Actorproducer
is latest, an anthology, saw actor-producer Saim Hyder shuttle from base to hometown and back. Hyder, who hails from Lucknow and is based in New York, shot the project’s first part in the US, returning to his hometown for the second.
“I completed Inferno Paradiso in the US before the pandemic, and it did rounds at different film festivals as well. In June 2022, I shot Karonda Keema in Lucknow, in which I played the lead. National Award-winning music director Bishakh Jyoti has given the score for the film,” shares Hyder during his visit to Lucknow for the second part of the anthology, which will see the 36-year-old return to the US for the final segment.
In 2008, Hyder moved to the US for his master’s in mass communication. Pursuing acting courses in New York, he realised that acting was his calling in life. “Since then, I have done several Broadway [productions] including Bonafide Women, One Nation Under God, Cherry Orchard and films like Patrons, Larry Bought Lemon besides hosting TV and radio chat shows,” shares the actor, adding that he has tried to experiment working in two countries simultaneously.
And what has he learned? “In the US, we have the agent system, where you must hire people and things work smoothly. But in India, you need to get into everything yourself, right from auditions to postproduction, but then it’s immensely satisfying,” explains Hyder.
He is now looking forward to producing content with both Indian and international sensibilities. “Three films with different flavours will sum up my anthology,” says Hyder, who was seen in the 2021 series Papa
also set in Lucknow.