 What
comes to mind when you think of Adnan Sami Khan? A creative genius
reputed to be the fastest piano player in the world. A bona fide
Bollywood composer who knows how to play the tabla, saxophone, guitar,
flute, tanpura and probably a couple more instruments because they
enable him to recognize "where to fit in different instrumental
sounds when composing music". A star with a soap-opera like
life complete with messy divorces, a lengthy child custody battle
and allegations of alcoholism and domestic abuse. A Pakistani who
has somehow achieved the impossible feat of making it big in Bollywood.
He hobnobs with the 'it' Bollywood crowd, composes and sings in
one best-selling album after the other and has recently sung a funky
duet with Jermaine Jackson. It's no wonder that before talking to
Adnan Sami Khan, I expected the man to be a complete diva. To the
contrary, we spend most of our time laughing as we talk. He is more
than willing to poke fun at himself ("people accuse me of having
sold off my identity, I'd love to know exactly how much I've sold
it for.") and is clearly reveling in his newfound fatherhood,
reverentially relating anecdotes of his son Azaan time and again.
"I feel blessed," he says, explaining his good mood. "I
am respected for my work and I love what I do. I have found a wonderful
companion in my wife Roya, who understands and supports me. And
after 10 years, I have been reunited with my son Azaan. For a long
time, I had no contact with him whatsoever but now that he's living
with me, I see so much of myself in him. I am enjoying being a father
and a friend to him and I am so proud of him."
One comments on how it must be difficult for him to balance his
work with his family life. As I have learnt in the past few months
that I've tried to track him down for an interview, Adnan is a very
busy man. He often has concerts, tours and guest appearances planned
out and when he is at his home in Mumbai, he is toiling away at
his personal album or singing and composing for Bollywood movie
soundtracks. "Thankfully, my family understands the nature
of my work," he replies. "And as for my workload, I manage
to deal with it by drinking lots of coffee. When I am busy with
a project, I am up at odd hours and the caffeine keeps me going."
What about soft drinks, I ask. "Well, those too – all
diet ones, mind you - but I won't name any of the ones I drink because
I may be blamed for endorsing a certain brand," he chortles.
The coffee and the diet soft drinks-that-we-will-not-name do manage
to work wonders. Adnan debuted in India 11 years ago with his groundbreaking
album Kabhi Toh Nazar Milao and hasn't looked back since. He has
a plethora of movie soundtracks to his credit, has worked with A-list
music directors like A.R. Rehman and Shankar-Ehsan-Loy, acted alongside
a host of Bollywood stars in his music videos and has sold-out concerts
in London's Wembley stadium to his credit. Despite this, he has
often been in the public eye for all the wrong reasons.
 I
ask him if the gossip about his personal life has ever affected
his popularity as a musician? "There are people who do tend
to focus more on my personal life rather than appreciate my work,"
he says. "But at the end of the day, if you're good at what
you do and if you work hard enough, nothing else matters. I may
have faced many ups and downs but I am here today because I've always
been sincere to my work."
And that's probably the key to Adnan's popularity. He may be going
through hell but he has never let his music suffer due to his personal
problems. He has fans all over the world and – let's not forget
– he is one of the few Pakistanis to have ventured into India
and become a success there. Many valiant Pakistani artistes have
endeavored to make it big in the lucrative soils across the border
but only a rare few have managed to accomplish this feat. I ask
Adnan what it took to establish himself in the highly competitive,
multi-talented Indian music industry? "Hard work," comes
the prompt reply. "I believe in my music and have never composed
a song in a certain way just in order to follow a trend that is
'in'. Actually, the music industry in India may be competitive but
I have don't ever really focus on what the others are doing. I just
do my own work and do it to the best of my abilities and so far,
regardless of the competition, a lot of people have liked my music.
People ask me to compose and sing for their movies because of a
certain unique flavor that my music has."
Adnan's tryst with Bollywood almost seems too good to be true. Despite
being a Pakistani, he claims to have never experienced any prejudice
in India. "People have always been very hospitable and respectful
towards me over here," he says. Even during the Mumbai blasts,
when a lot of Pakistani artistes suddenly became taboo in India,
Adnan continued to live on comfortably in Mumbai. He hasn't even
ever been manipulated by movie directors, a practice quite common
in Bollywood. "Yes, I have heard of instances when directors
have approached composers with ready-made songs and asked them to
arrange them in only a certain way. Fortunately, this has never
happened with me and if it did, I'd probably ask the director to
look for a new composer. When I am approached to compose a movie
soundtrack, the director is already aware of the kind of music I
produce and he knows what to expect."
"Also, I am very careful when I am composing for a movie. Each
song has to fit well into the story's backdrop and suit the various
characters and situations. I don't experiment too much since the
music has to be acceptable to audiences all over the country and
beyond. When I composed the soundtrack of the movie Lucky, I added
bits of Russian music to the songs since the movie was situated
in Russia. For 1920, a period movie with flashback scenarios, I
composed the music accordingly. The music for each movie has to
have a unique tone and texture."
He gets introspective when asked what he enjoys more, composing
for his own personal albums or for movie soundtracks? "I enjoy
composing for myself since there are no limitations and I can experiment
as much as I want to. Then again, movie soundtracks are fun because
the music has to be situational. I like both!"
Adnan may be well-settled in Bollywood now, but I ask him what it
was like in the beginning, when he was a newcomer? Did he have to
go to the right parties and socialize in order to get work? "Things
don't work that way over here," he says. "You may be at
all the Page 3 parties and have friends in high places, but unless
you're good at your work, you will never get hired. You have to
be good at what you do – it doesn't matter who you party with."
 And
since he is certainly 'good' at his work, Adnan is on a career high.
His recent compositions include the soundtrack of the movies Chance
Pe Dance, Mumbai Salsa, Sadiyaan and Dhamaal. He's content both
personally and professionally and has tall plans for the future.
On the other hand, it is this very self-assurance that has Adnan
at the receiving end of criticism in Pakistan. We may wax lyrical
about joint ventures and cordiality but there is an inherent rivalry
between India and Pakistan that can never really fade away completely.
Quotes by the likes of Asha Bhosle that "Adnan's spirit belongs
in India" and Adnan's own persistence to continue living across
the border is enough to stir a hornet's nest here at home. "That's
so unreasonable," opines Adnan, who has probably been asked
to speak on this topic a hundred times before. "Don't doctors
and engineers immigrate to foreign shores where they may be able
to earn more? They are never accused of being unpatriotic. There
are so many talented Pakistani musicians but they are unable to
make a decent living because the music industry in Pakistani is
financially unstable. I moved to India because it was in the best
interests of my career. Besides, it's wrong to say that I compose
music just for India. Indian music is just as popular in Pakistan
as it is here. When you buy a CD, you don't look at where it's been
recorded, you just buy it because you like the music. Music is universal;
it isn't restricted to a particular country."
On a similar tangent, I ask him about the other Pakistanis who have
been creating waves in Bollywood: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shafqat
Amanat Ali, Atif Aslam and Ali Zafar. Does he feel that they have
it in them to become permanent fixtures in Bollywood? "I think
they are all very talented," he says. "All of them have
a unique quality of their own which has enabled them to get work
in the Indian music industry. There are a lot of gifted, dedicated
professionals working here and it's a very competitive field. Not
just anybody can make it here. Atif has an incredible voice while
I think Shafqat and Rahat are just amazing."
"I saw Tere Bin Laden recently and Ali Zafar was hilarious
in the movie. The movie is a complete comedy and it's ridiculous
that it has been banned in Pakistan. It is not a political movie
at all and has absolutely nothing to do with the Taliban. Rather
than ban it, it should have been shown in cinemas all over Pakistan
because Ali Zafar has acted in it and he's done such a great job."
Adnan himself is also planning to step into acting. His penchant
for Bollywood is clearly apparent in his music videos – his
videos have featured a myriad of stars including Amitabh Bachchan,
Govinda, Rani Mukherjee, Raveena Tandon and Mahima Chaudhry. The
videos' storylines have often been dramatic love stories, giving
Adnan plenty of opportunity to flex his acting muscles before his
grand movie debut, whenever that takes place.
 I ask
him when his movie will finally begin to roll, given that there
has been talk about it for the past few years? "We're still
going over the final drafts and will hopefully begin shooting by
the end of this year." And with his new, sleeker avatar, what
kind of hero is he aspiring to become? A whimsical chocolate hero
or a tough action-man? "Nothing of the sort!" he laughs.
"Indian movies have changed to a large extent and rather than
fit into a stereotype, I just want to do roles that allow me to
perform. One role I don't want to play is that of a musician. People
just expect that if a musician is acting in a movie, he'll naturally
play the role of a musician. I'd rather do something unexpected."
And why he has always opted for renowned Bollywood actors to be
part of his music videos – was it in order to sharpen his
own acting skills? "Not really," he says. "A lot
of my videos have plots that require a lot of performance –
this can easily be done by an experienced actor. Besides, who wouldn't
want to act alongside an actor like Amitabh Bachchan? I grew up
watching his movies and I consider myself very fortunate that I
got the opportunity to perform with him in my video 'Kabhi Nahin'."
Needless to say, Adnan doesn't have any plans to work in Pakistan
– not yet, anyway. And to be honest, why should he? With Pakistan
in the throes of economic recession and terrorism, a job in entertainment
is hardly a viable option. Besides, Adnan did initially try to stay
on in Pakistan. His son Azaan once told me that Adnan wanted to
release his album Kabhi Toh Nazar Milao in Pakistan, but when he
didn't receive any enthusiasm for it, he went on and released it
in India. The album paved the way for Adnan's future career and
once he was declared a star in India, he suddenly became hot property
in Pakistan. Now, everybody wanted Adnan Sami Khan back on Pakistani
soil and he was accused of having sold off his identity. "It's
just hypocritical," he says. "Pakistanis love Indian movies
and music and every second Pakistani artiste is trying to establish
himself or herself in India. It's not because they are unpatriotic;
the Indian entertainment industry is just more lucrative. A lot
of times, a Pakistani artiste has had to make it big in India before
he or she is noticed in their home country. Everybody applauds projects
like Aman Ki Asha that are endeavoring to bridge the gap between
Pakistan and India through the field of entertainment. Why is it
then that I am accused of having sold off my identity because I
have managed to achieve what everyone else is trying to achieve
anyway?"
Why indeed? Adnan Sami Khan has succeeded where are a many haven't
simply because he could. Why would he then leave all that he has
worked hard for just because a few people accuse him of having lost
out on his identity? Adnan Sami Khan is too talented, intelligent
and far sighted to ever do that – this man certainly doesn't
have any identity crisis.
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