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Last seen on screen in Bajrangi Bhaijaan as the qawwal in a dargah, Adnan Sami is all set to make his silver screen debut with the romantic musical, Afghan. The singer now turned actor will be playing the role of an Afghan musician displaced from his country who then seeks solace in India and finds love in many forms. Directed by Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao, the film goes on floors in August and is looking at an early 2018 release.
Adnan is looking forward to acting in the film which is very different from shooting music videos. He will be living a character that he can empathize with well owing to his Afghan roots. The character has been inspired from the stories of his forefathers.
Adnan said:
“We belong to the royal family of King Amanullah and still have palaces in Herat, Afghanistan. My great grandfather conquered Kafirastan and renamed it Nuristan. My grandfather was a provincial governor. After my father’s death, I’m the family patriarch now. I’ve never spoken about that part of my life because I didn’t want my family to open any doors for me but carve a niche on my own. Since I took a path no one had tread, they didn’t know which doors to open anyway.”
He understands fully well the tryst of an artist living in a country torn apart due to large scale radicalism, where music is considered to be haram.
Adnan who composed the music for Lucky- No time for love was waiting to reunite with the director duo. Though he has not been to Afghanistan in a while, he is looking forward to shooting there and across India as the film is based on Indo-Afghan brotherhood.
Adnan himself came to India in 1999 and after a long drawn out battle, the singer was awarded citizenship of India.
He further added:
“Under a Special Clause the Government of India can grant citizenship to someone for exemplary services in the field of art, science and sport. The clause, in existence since 1955, was applied for the first time in my case. And finally, the country I’d accepted as my aashiyana 17 years ago, the India jise mein qabool tha, became my own. It was a spectacular finale.”
The singer became a father to a beautiful girl Medina born on May 10th. It’s been a month and the baby already has her father wrapped around her finger.
He laughed and said:
“I’ve become an expert in shopping for baby girls, from hats and shoes to frocks and a baby suit that has ‘No dating allowed… ever’ scrawled across as a warning to future suitors, a la Robert De Niro in Meet The Fockers.”
In spite of taking on the acting mantle, his music will not take a backseat.
The singer said:
“But while I admire jugglers, I can’t multitask. Right now my focus is Afghan. I’m not just acting in it, I also have to compose seven songs for it.”
