Recently, Pakistani actor Sami Khan appeared on a talk show and opened up about changing his name after signing film Salakhain.
Khan stated, “Mansoor Aslam Khan Niazi is my real name, on all my documents. The change happened when I signed my film Salakhain, I figured if we were going to do a film I might as well change my name. People would get ‘Mansoor’ wrong. Some people would call me ‘Manzoor’ and that would annoy me.”
He continued, “I wanted something a bit more catchy. I got the option of ‘Sami’ and I figured, why not? I had a friend whose name was Samiullah Khan Niazi, and I really liked it.”
The actor was asked what he would prefer to do more, dramas or films to which he responded, “I don’t think you have to pick and choose between TV and film. This really isn’t an issue internationally. If you take the example of Henry Cavil, he plays Superman on the big screen, but he also plays the Witcher on Netflix. We’ve created confusion for no reason. If I get a good opportunity from theatre, film or TV, I’d accept it regardless of the medium.”
Talking about showbiz industry, Sami said, “I can’t say any particular period was better for dramas. Things change with time and TV dramas have evolved as well as films. I’m lucky that I got to work both with Lollywood and our new-age cinema.”
