Nasirul Haq Khokon and his unique lighting on stage

Selim Al Deen (R) and Nasirul Haq Khokon at the award giving ceremony.

Nasirul Haq Khokon started his theatre work as a regular worker of Nagarik Natya Sampradaya in 1985. Like other newcomers, he had also cherished the idea of becoming a good actor. He had performed in some of the productions at his early theatre career. Later he found interest in light designing. He says, 'I consider light designing more exciting than painting. Because in the case of light-design, I can create many aesthetic arts on a huge live canvas simultaneously by changing the angles, intensity and colour of lights. On the contrary the painters can create one single piece on one canvas. Moreover, we can express the inner feelings of the artistes through symbolic colour effects. In this sense, we the light designers, are not totally detached from the audience.'

Professionally a businessman, Nasirul Haq Khokon has no academic knowledge in light-design but he has taken part in many workshops under many renowned light designers of the world like Tapas Sen, Simon Corder, Kurt Harminson and S. Dublin jointly arranged by the British Council and other institutes. He thinks in theatre practical application is more important than theoretical knowledge. Thus if a person goes through many books related to designing he/she may acquire theoretical knowledge but will never be able to give lay out of a suitable design unless he/she gets a scope to share thoughts with a recognized designer. That scope is offered in the workshops.

In our country, the designers were neglected during the primary stage but time is changing now. Everybody in the drama lane now realizes the importance of a symbolic set and synchronized lights to express the theme of a play. That is why the renowned designers are working with many groups. Nasirul Haq Khokon is working with Nagarik Natya Sampradaya as a regular worker but at the same time he is working with several other groups of the country as a guest worker. The remuneration that he gets is not remarkable but he is very happy with the respect and love that he gets for his work.

He thinks that the designers should get more recognition and says, "A better future is ahead for the designers as they can work with the exterior designers and can make money. I am now working with some internationally recognized architects to beautify the historical building- Lalbagh Kella. I think that the government should take steps to do the same with other historically important monuments which have become crime zones in the darkness."

He, with some of the renowned designers, is in the process of establishing an institute for the betterment of the designers. The name of the proposed institute is Theatre Designers' Institute (TDI). In this institute the designers will be able to share thoughts with well-reputed designers. They will also provide library facilities and will arrange production-based workshops. It will really help to create educated designers and at the same time they can work towards a common cause of the designers.

He has no interest in acting in television but is eager to work as a cameraman and also as a director in the near future.