New Delhi: Singer and composer Adnan Sami was born in Pakistan and later in 2016 became an Indian citizen. In a latest interview with India TV’s Aap Ki Adalat, Adnan Sami opened up on why he chose to move to India, problems he faced and lack of support in the Pakistani music industry.
Adnan Sami’s Professional Trouble In Pakistan
Sharing what went wrong in Pakistan, he said, “I come from a very privileged family. I was never greedy for money because I was born in a home where I always had everything. An artiste is always wishing for audience. I got a lot of love from Pakistan, but I wanted a larger audience. After the songs I released in 1998, people in the Pakistani music industry thought my songs wouldn’t work and I’m finished. So they didn’t provide any publicity for those songs. Nobody got to know when the album released and vanished. I was very dejected. I was in Canada at that time. I knew they’d done that on purpose.”
What Asha Bhosle Advised Adnan Sami
He recalled a conversation with veteran singer Asha Bhosle and said, “I told Asha ji I’m dejected because people here have decided they don’t want to work with me for whatever reason, and that I want to record with her in London.” In response, Bhosle advised him to move to Mumbai, saying, “‘Why do you want to record in London?’ she asked me. I said I know some people there. So she said, ‘See, if you really want to do something new, come to Mumbai. This is the capital of Hindi music. Whatever gets popular here would spread out to the rest of the world. So this is the place to come.'”
“Main boriya bistar le ke pahuch gaya Mumbai,” Sami said, recalling how Bhosle and her family supported him during his early days in India. “She made me stay in RD Burman’s home. I was very lucky because it was like a music temple,” he added.
Songs Went Unnoticed In Pakistan
The songs that had earlier gone unnoticed in Pakistan became hits in India. “The songs that didn’t work in Pakistan, like Kabhi To Nazar Milao, Bheegi Bheegi Raaton Mein, Lift Karadey, they were marketed so well that the rest is history. The way people embraced me and loved me, I could’ve never imagined it”, he added.
Sami added that his move to India was not motivated by money. “Money wasn’t my driving force. In fact, when I came here, I had to start from scratch again,” he said. “I was facing a lot of problems then as a Pakistani citizen, especially in a public profession. Everyone knows all your moves. I had even reached out to Musharraf for help.”
He applied for Indian citizenship in 2015 and was granted it the following year. Earlier this year, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour.
