Actor MK Raina Reflects on His Journey From Srinagar to His Sector-26 Home in Noida
Veteran actor and director MK Raina, who now resides in Sector-26, Noida, has reflected on his decades-long journey from his childhood in Srinagar to his prominent career in Indian theatre and cinema. At 77, the "Taare Zameen Par" actor shared his experiences of displacement, his early theatrical roots in Kashmir, and his ongoing dedication to the performing arts.
Raina lives with his pediatrician wife, Anjali, in a double-storey residence named ‘Rainawari’ in Sector-26. Despite building a life in Noida, Raina still carries the lingering ache of his lost ancestral home in Srinagar, noting that he can never truly return there.
His artistic journey began in Srinagar, where his earliest theatre experience was playing a lost child in the opera "Neki Badi," written by Kashmiri poet Dinanath Nadim. The early 1960s in Kashmir were a vibrant period for progressive art, with visits from figures like writer Sajjad Zaheer, theatre personality Habeeb Tanvir, and painter SH Raza. In 1967, local theatre elders chose to send Raina to Delhi’s National School of Drama (NSD) on a state scholarship.
At NSD, Raina trained under director Faisal Alkazi. Shortly after completing his course, a chance meeting facilitated by his junior, Naseeruddin Shah, led Raina to star in Awtar Krishna Kaul’s award-winning 1974 film "27 Down." Despite the film's success, Raina chose not to settle in Bombay, preferring to return to theatre in Delhi.
In 1977, Raina founded the experimental theatre group Prayog, staging plays like Badal Sircar’s "Julus" and Bhisham Sahni’s "Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein." He also worked in parallel cinema through the 1980s, later finding a second wind with mainstream projects like "Taare Zameen Par" (2007) and "The Forgotten Army." Raina uses his film earnings to fund his theatre passions.
Today, Raina continues to work in Delhi while living in Noida. He expressed concerns over rising theatre production costs, noting that auditorium rentals have soared from Rs 3,000–5,000 in the 1970s to over Rs 1 lakh today. He is currently preparing for his upcoming play, "Conference of Birds," and a book marking Prayog's 50th anniversary next year.
