When you watch Imran Abbas light up the screen in Khuda Aur Mohabbat or Meri Zaat Zarra-e-Benishan, it is hard to imagine him bent over a drafting table. But that is exactly where his story begins.
Syed Imran Abbas Naqvi was born on October 15, 1982, and grew up in an artistic household where famed Urdu poets Parveen Shakir and Ahmad Faraz were regular visitors. He chose to study architecture at the National College of Arts, Lahore, because he found it was a blend of art and engineering, two worlds that felt natural to a boy who had been painting since the age of four.
While still pursuing his architecture degree at NCA, Imran got affiliated with modelling, and his very first TV appearance came through a comedy drama called Kollege Jeans, shot by NCA students themselves. The screen clearly had other plans for him.
He made his acting debut in the drama serial Umrao Jaan Ada in 2003, but it was his lead role in Khuda Aur Mohabbat that truly catapulted him to stardom. He later made his Bollywood debut in Creature 3D opposite Bipasha Basu in 2014. His architecture degree was not wasted, either. Being an architecture graduate, Imran himself designed his own family home.
Today, he is also a published Urdu poet and a STEM-to-screen inspiration, proof that sometimes, the blueprint of your life looks nothing like the career you studied for.
