A young man with myriad dreams

Kabbeer H Maira, of  the daily show, Iss Pyarr Ko Kya Naam Doon-Ek Bar Phir on Star Plus is a trained model and actor. For Maira, technicalities matter the most. Being associated with post-production activities before this, he understands better the effort that he needs to put in his acting.

Presently, he is starring as James, in a Rajit Kapoor directorial play called A GlassMenagerie. The play is not an adaptation but takes its base from Tennessee Williams’ novel of the same name. The play will be featuring Amrita Puri (Aisha in Kai Po Che)/Ira Dubey, Jim Sarbh and Shernaz Patel (Black, Guzaarish).

The play opened at the Prithvi Festival, and has so far been staged across Bangalore, Cochin and Chennai apart from a few shows in Mumbai.

Maira recently finished working on a short film which is being sent to various international festivals. As most festivals require confidential closed entries, Maira chose to speak less about it. Though, he offered to give a CD if Metrolife was interested.

“Acting is what I concentrate on the most. Though sometimes I anchor for TV shows in NDTV Good Times, but through that also, I try to understand better how to be more compatible with the camera,” he says.

Getting to know Maira closely, one would see a ‘young man with many dreams’. He also DJs in private parties, works as a sound engineer for his plays, and also takes up editing when required.

“It has been a meandering journey through different media,” Maira tells Metrolife.
An assistant director to Vikram Bhatt for his film Shaapit: The Cursed (2010), Maira hails from Panipat but now made Mumbai his home and karm bhoomi.

“I have taken up all projects that have come my way. At one point when I was looking for jobs, I would go to all the auditions I would hear of. But now, after two years, I am much relaxed. Work comes to me, I don’t go looking for it,” he says happily.

As a model, he has also been featured in several advertising campaigns, including TVC for Park Avenue Deodrants, for Panasonic Viera with Ranbir Kapoor, a television campaign for Voice Mobile, Pakistan and also the TVC for Layer’ Body Spray with Ileana D Cruz.   

He has also shot for a music video produced by Eros along With Taasha Berry (her film Mastram was released in 2014 and Shaan’s Khudgarzi official video.
Recently, he also anchored FHM’s Bachelor of the Year for NDTV Good Times which will be airing soon. Maira is also a travel and sports enthusiast. He recognises himself as an ‘adrenalin junkie’.

“With NDTV Good Times, I went to different places across the globe, and had the experience with adventure sports such as surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, mountain boarding, paragliding, kite surfing, devil biking, wake boarding and sky diving,” says Maira. Along with his cousin he plans to start a new show, which will feature travel and adventure expeditions.