LAHORE-Known for his underground music, theatrical and small screen works, Umer Naru has worked with some of the biggest names in the Pakistani media industry including Sarmad Khoosat, Anjum Shehzad and Nadeem Baig to name a few.
Naru landed a pivotal role, after being approached by Bee Gul and Khalid Ahmed last year for the drama serial Dilara, on BOL Network.
Sharing more details about the drama and his character, Naru comments, “intense melancholia. Done well! It will transport the audience to the classical era of our dramas. When things were done more tastefully.There is a certain weakness of character that I despise in men that my character embodies. Men who don’t stand up for what’s right and succumb to the circumstance. But I had to sympathize with his lack of resolve and spinelessness in order to internalize him and portray him the way it was intended by the writer.”
With a role completely opposing Naru’s own personality, we asked him about difficulties when training and connecting with a character such as the one he plays, “Khalid Saheb held workshops before we went into shooting. We discussed character arcs, the various acting techniques and did some voice and movement exercises. Something you don’t get to do in TV at all. Other than that, my character is a straight shooter of sorts so it didn’t require a lot of preparation. I just had to channel the inner misogynist, loser in me.”
A quiet and reflective actor, Naru prefers roles that pose a challenge and offer some kind of growth. “Of course, the story, the screen play, the dialogue all matter immensely. If the script reads well on paper. It has my complete attention and other priorities will take a back seat. I like to work alongside people who’d go an extra mile. I am a dreamer and I want to surround myself with risk takers and creative visionaries. Unfortunately, there aren’t many out there. Hence, we suffer in silence,” says Naru while talking about roles he prefers and the lack of real creatives in our industry.
Sharing the screen with Kinza Razzaq, Abid Ali, Usman Butt, HinaKhwaja, Samina Ahmed, Mohammad Ahmed, Salim Mairaj&RabyaKulsoom, Naru talks about the overall experience of working with the entire team of Dilara and the personalities that stood out, “Everyone is interesting in their own way. I have worked with half of the cast before so nothing new there. I got to spend time with Mohammad Ahmad Saheb on set. There’s a lively, eccentric side to him that I hadn’t witnessed before. I like him!Kinza’s stamina as a new comer is praiseworthy. Khalid Saheb was a joy to share creative space with. Him and I have since become good friends and we share a common love for music.”
Umer Naru never fails to prove his mettle for whichever project he takes up and so far, he hasn’t let us down with his performance in Dilara. Hoping to see him in more lead roles we wishthe team and Naruall the luck.
