He has straddled Bollywood and Hollywood. And now actor par excellence Naseeruddin Shah will be playing a new role in Nepal - lending a helping hand to a pioneering Nepalese theatre group.

The 54-year-old actor, who is known for his cerebral roles, and his actress wife Ratna Pathak Shah will give a supper theatre performance in Kathmandu's luxury hotel, the Soaltee Crowne Plaza, on July 1 to help raise funds for two Nepalese organisations.

Naseer and his wife will perform Dear Liar, the Jerome Kilty play based on the correspondence between Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw and actress Patrick Campbell.

The Kathmandu performance, for which the tickets are priced at Nepalese Rs.3,000 and Rs.2,500, is taking place at the behest of a school alumni association, the Association of St Mary's Alumni Nepal (ASMAN).

St Mary's is one of the best known schools in Nepal, run by missionaries from India, and boasts among its old students Nepal's late queen Aishwarya as well as the present one, Queen Komal.

ASMAN has an Art Fund to sponsor new talents, like providing scholarships to study music at Kathmandu University.

Besides raising money for the fund, Naseer's performance will also benefit Gurukul, Nepal's first theatre school.

The three-year-old school aiming to promote indigenous theatre was formed by one of Nepal's oldest theatre groups, Aaorohan, founded in 1982.

Naseer will be the first international star to perform in Kathmandu after Feb 1, when King Gyanendra took power by force, triggering a diplomatic as well as cultural alienation of Nepal.

Kathmandu owes Naseer's visit to Niti Rana, president of ASMAN whose son studies with the actor's son in India's Doon School.

"We have been in touch, getting to meet each other during parents' meetings at the school," said Rana, who was also associated with grooming Miss Nepal contestants.

"So when I asked him to help with ASMAN's fundraising programme, he was more than willing."

This is probably Naseer's first performance in Nepal.