Azaan Sami Khan, who wrote the screenplay and music for the Mahira Khan film, Superstar, was in London recently promoting the film, where he gave an interview to BBC Asian Network.
Speaking about family dynamics, Azaan first revealed, “My mother’s mother was English; her parents were Hungarian. My grandfather met her in the early 1940s,” he revealed.
Speaking to Haroon Rashid about being the son of Adnan Sami and Zeba Bakhtiyar and the expectations that come with it, Azaan noted, “I’ve never thought about it like that. The pros outweigh the cons any day. It would be bitter of me looking at this side and saying, ‘oh it’s so difficult’ because it’s really not. There are massive advantages.”
Addressing a question on Adnan Sami Khan being a controversial figure due to his views on the tension between India-Pakistan or Kashmir, Azaan said, “There are days when it’s very interesting to see how people react because he is my father. A lot of the times there is just silence when you know normally, you keep getting messages for different things and when something has happened, sometimes there’s complete silence. People are respectful. They say ‘we know he’s your father so we don’t know what to say’ and they don’t know how I’m feeling. As far as I’m concerned, the reason I’ve never really spoken about it before has been because he’s my father, I love him and respect him.”
He added: “He’s made certain decisions about where he wants to live and which country he chooses to call home. I respect that. But I choose to go home. Now it’s my choice and I chose to work in Pakistan.”
“I’ve lived in India, I’ve spent my teen years there,” said Azaan, noting that he has a lot of friends in India but the industry in Pakistan is his family. “I grew up with my mother, drooling in their offices… so there is immense pride.When I see a Parey Hut Love, for me there is hope and ambition that I could contribute to an industry which I call home.”
When asked about his relationship with his father, Azaan noted that he thinks it’s best that those conversations stay between him and his father. “We’ve had a very tested relationship; I grew up with my mother so him and I, we’re more like friends. He’s someone I’d go to for advice. And it’s a very interesting relationship because we may not speak at times for months but when we do, we just get each other. So where I say I respect him, I get where he comes from and as a child, I don’t think it’s our place to comment on what our parents do. We can advise, suggest, but it’s not our place to tell them what to do or even to say much. What we can do is be vocal and clear about where we stand as adults and I’ve been very clear.”
