Adnan Sami
Adnan Sami Khan was born on 15th August 1973, popularly known simply as Adnan Sami, is a British-born singer, musician, pianist, actor and composer of Pakistan origin. He currently holds Canadian citizenship and lives in Mumbai, India. His style merges Asian and Western music styles and instrumentation and ranges from classical to jazz to modern pop-rock.
Biography
Early life and education
Adnan Sami was born, brought up and educated in London, United Kingdom. His father, Arshad Sami Khan was a pilot with the Pakistan Air Force and a Pakistani diplomat. Sami attended Rugby School. He had played the piano since the age of five. Sami began taking lessons from Pandit Shivkumar Sharma when visiting India during his school vacations. Indian singing legend Asha Bhosle spotted talent in a ten-year-old Sami at an R D Burman concert in London, and encouraged him to take up music as a career.
As a teenager, Sami, when performing on the sitar at a programme in Stockholm, was noticed by Keyboard Magazine as being the fastest man on keyboard in Asia. Sami went on to learn Indian classical music from Mahraj Khatak, a Pakistani classical singing teacher and dancer. At the age of sixteen, Sami was approached to write a song for famine-hit Ethiopia for which he won a special award from UNICEF.
He graduated from King's College and became the first person to play Indian classical music on the electric piano.
Career
He had his first solo album RAAG Time in 1991-92.The song from his latest album Kisi Din 'Teri Yaad' was the title track'Jab Chandani Barh Kar' of his first album. In 1994, he composed music for a film for the first time. The Pakistani film, in which Adnan was the lead with his wife Zeba and famous Indian playback singer Asha Bhosle did the playback, Sargam, was a blockbuster. However, the authorities banned Asha's voice from the soundtrack which disappointed Adnan. He then had to re-record these songs with Hadiqa Kiyani. After unsuccessfully trying to make it to the competitive Pakistani pop scene in 1997, in 2000, Asha Bhosle teamed up with him to release a collection of love songs named Kabhi to Nazar Milao. The music was also composed by Adnan. According to Adnan, this was a "dream come true" for him. The album became an instant rage and topped the Indipop charts for most of 2001. According to BusinessWeek, the album sold 2 million copies in India.
Songs Kabhi to Nazar milao whose music video featured model Aditi Gowitrikar and Lift karaa de whose music video starred the popular Indian star Govinda from the album became immensely popular at this time. The videos were shot by Anil Mehra who had shot popular Hindi movies Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Lagaan. Looking at the immense success of this album, Magnasound and Adnan released an album Always yours which is a remix version of numbers from this album.
He soon became a "sensation" which led Hindi filmmaker Boney Kapoor to invite him to give music for his film. This was the beginning for him composing and singing songs for Hindi films very successfully of even the top Hindi film producers of the time like Yash Chopra and Subhash Ghai. Due to the immense popularity of his music videos and live performances, he had even begun getting acting offers at this time.
The song, Tu sirf mera mehboob, from the Hindi movie Ajnabee (2001) sung by Adnan also "became a rage" and was a superhit.
Screen called him the pop personality of the year 2001 and even says that the success of his album Kabhi to Nazar milao "kept the Indian pop music industry alive and breathing" in 2001.
In 2002, Pepsi Foods made Adnan its brand ambassador in India, a contract which involved hosting a series of live music concerts across cities as well as Adnan featuring in ads for Pepsi products. According to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, no Pakistani artist had managed to gain as much popularity in India as Sami had. According to an article in the Indian newspaper The Times of India, Sami was the most successful face in non-film music in India at that time.
His second studio album, Tera Chehra, was released in October 2002 to critical eulogies even as his first album was still selling. The music videos for this album were shot by Binod Pradhan who had shot the popular Hindi movie Devdas, directed by Bela Sehgal (director of Devdas Sanjay Leela Bhansali's sister) and featured popular Bollywood stars Rani Mukerji in the title track, Amitabh Bachchan in the track Kabhi nahi who also sang the duet with Adnan and actress Mahima Chaudhry in another song. The title track was written by famous Hindi movie lyricist Sameer. According to Screen, it was the only successful pop album of the year.
Saathiya (2002) brought the opportunity to work with maestro A. R. Rahman in the form of Aye Udi Udi which he was looking forward to. According to Screen, the song was the highlight of the album. rediff.com called him the "reigning king of Indipop" in early 2003 based on the sales of his albums in the past two years.
His most successful albums have been Kabhi To Nazar Milao (with Asha Bhosle) and Tera Chehra, and his music videos usually have had a host of Bollywood stars in them, including Namrata Shirodkar ("Bheegi Bheegi Raat"), Mahima Chaudhry, Raveena Tandon, Rani Mukerji ("Tera Chehra"), Govinda, Fardeen Khan, Amisha Patel ("O Meri Jaan"), Bhumika Chawla ("Maahiya"), Dia Mirza ("Pal Do Pal") and most famously, Amitabh Bachchan ("Kabhi Nahi"). and in 2007 the soundtrack from the hit Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love.
Since 2003, he has sung for a few Tamil movies like Boys, Aayutha Ezhuthu composed by A.R. Rehman. The songs,"Boom Boom" from Boys and "Nenjamellam Kadhal" for Aayitha Ezhuthu, were hits. He also sang for the Tamil and Telugu versions besides the Hindi version of songs fromthe movie Yuva (2004) whose music was also composed by A. R. Rahman. Besides Rahman, he also worked together with composer Yuvan Shankar Raja, singing hit Tamil songs "Oh Intha Kadhal" from Satham Podathey and the very recently released "Oru Kal" from Siva Manasula Sakthi, which got very popular and widely noticed.
He has also sang for a Kannada film song. His first Kannada song, "Don't Worry Madabeda" for the film Super Star starring Upendra was a big hit.
In 2006, he took a sabbatical, and reportedly lost over 70 kg, to make a comeback in April 2007 with a new album Kisi Din.
His latest film music composition was for Shaurya (2008).
Personal life
Adnan Sami was married to Zeba Bakhtiar for a short period (2nd marriage, separated in 1996/1997) from whom he had a son Azaan Khan. After their separation, Adnan abducted their son and took him to Dubai after the Lahore High Court awarded custody rights to Zeba.
In May 1998, Zeba alleged that Pakistani and UAE officials were not co-operating with her in her bid to gain custody of her son from Adnan. She took the custody of Azaan by appealing in a Canadian court. Canadian immigration officials "stormed" Adnan's home, arrested him and "whisked away" his son who was handed over to his mother, Zeba. According to Adnan, this forced him to cancel millions of dollars worth of concerts and other recording obligations. Adnan's father, Arshad Sami Khan, filed a defamation suit against Zeba and her family claiming that during the hearing, he and his family members were defamed.
According to Sami, this was when he began to gain weight by using food for comfort and getting more depressed and this became a vicious cycle and by June 2006, he weighed 206 kilos.
In 2001, Sami fell in love with and married Dubai-based Sabah Galadari his third marriage and her second. This relationship also called quits a year-and-a-half later. According to Adnan, Sabah left him because he was obese. He also claimed that they were married for 10 years.
Since at least 2001, Sami, who was then based in Dubai, was unsuccessfully attempting to acquire Indian citizenship. In July 2001, he approached the Home Minister of India, Lal Krishna Advani in Dubai and requested for granting of Indian citizenship. After failing to acquire Indian citizenship, he attempted to acquire Canadian citizenship and was successful in getting it.
In 2002, Adnan filed an appeal for the custody of his son Azaan in a Pakistani court by claiming that Zeba had obtained the custody of Azaan by "misleading the Canadian court through false and ill-founded allegations against him". Soon after, the two agreed to reconcile and settle the issue out of court after years of legal battles. Adnan agreed to let Zeba have custody but wanted access to Azaan. But it did not work out and in 2004, he sued the Canadian government for $30 million in connection with the immigration raid that had ended with his son "being whisked away". According to Sami, he won the case.
In 2004, Sami described himself as a huge fan of S D Burman and R D Burman.
In 2005, Adnan suffered from lymphoedema and developed an abscess in the knee. He was in intensive care, had to undergo a risky surgery and was in bed for three months. He was linked to Bollywood actress Amisha Patel who featured in one of his music videos and accompanied him on his world tour. But this was denied by both him and Amisha's boyfriend Vikram Bhatt.
In June 2006, Adnan weighed 206 kilograms (450 lb) and according to him, his doctor said he was giving him just six months to live. By diet, exercise and will-power, Adnan lost 107 kg (240 lb) weight in 9 months.
In 2008, Adnan's wife Sabah returned to Mumbai, remarried and began staying with Adnan.
On 30 January 2009, Adnan's wife Sabah registered a case against Adnan at the Oshiwara police station accusing him of physical and mental torture after they had a violent fight. Adnan was summoned to the police station and warned against misbehaving with his wife in future. According to Adnan, Sabah is making a claim to his flat in Lokhandwala and did not allow his father to return to it. He said he was planning to fight in court with his wife. Adnan also said that his wife was unkind to his son from a previous marriage, Azaan. Sabah has said that their troubles began soon after remarriage and that Adnan was suffering from alcoholism which "increased by the day" and would often indulge in violence against her.
According to her, on one occasion, Adnan drank so much alcohol that he fell down in the bathroom and they had to cancel a show in London. She has also said that he abused and apologised to her and it became a pattern and that she loved him "so much". Adnan Sami violated the law of India and purchased 8 flats in Mumbai with out approval from the competent authorities, Naresh Kadyan, Chairman - PFA Haryana asked the Mumbai Police to lodge FIR against Adnan Sami u/s 420, 120-B IPC along with other relevant sections of the law of the land.
Adnan married for the third time on 3 April 2010, with an Afghan born German national woman, Roya Faryabi. Roya works as Project Manager for a US-based company, operating in Germany. According to media, Adnan first met Roya in India and proposed to her after some time, while Roya says that she always liked Adnan and he is the best match for her.
Awards and accolades
Sami has won many international awards, including the Nigar Award, the Bolan Academy Award, and the Graduate Award. He was given a special award by UNICEF for the song he wrote for famine-hit Ethiopia as a teenager and a United Nations Peace Medal for a song he wrote and performed for Africa
A review of his piano solo performance on Channel 4, UK, in Keyboard Magazine acknowledged him as the "Keyboard Discovery of The 90s".
In 2001, he was awarded the Breakthrough Artist of the Year by MTV.
He was invited to be a member of the jury of the prestigious music festival Voice of Asia competition, held annually at Almaty, Kazakhstan - the jury comprises top music composers of the world.[citation needed] Sami was featured in a documentary, commissioned by the Foreign and Common Wealth Office of Great Britain, about ten people from the Indian subcontinent, who have influenced the Asian culture in the UK over the last fifty years. Swedish and British radio and television have often referred to him as the fastest keyboard player in the world. Sami has performed for prestigious music festivals to sold-out stadia of his solo concert tours all over the world in over forty countries. In summer 2003, he became the only Asian artist to have sold out, Wembley Stadium, London, for two consecutive nights, which won him a place in the Limca Book of Records.
As a classical concert pianist, Sami has had the honour of giving "solo" Royal Command performances before the King of Sweden and King Hussein of Jordan.
In 2008, he was presented the Naushad Music Award by Andhra Pradesh Department of Culture, at Hyderabad. He was presented Life time achievement award in 2010 from Pakistan Television.
Discography
* Ecstasy - 1991
* Raag Time - 1991 - This album featured India's famous tabla artist Ustad Zakir Hussain.
* Behta Darya - 1992
* Sargam - 1995 - All songs from this album was used in a Pakistani movie with the same name, Adnan played the lead role against his then wife Zeba Bakhtiar.
* Badaltay Mausam - 1997 - This album was re-released in India as Kabhi To Nazar Milao
* Kabhi To Nazar Milao - 2000 - No. 1 album for (72 weeks) - Indian charts
* Tera Chehra - 2002 - Biggest selling album of (including film soundtracks) in Indian charts (53 weeks)
* Kisi Din - 2007
* Tum Jo Milay - 2008
* Tahaan Soundtrack - 2008
* Daddy Cool Soundtrack - 2009
* Ek Ladki Deewane Si (2009)
Interview
The now stunningly slim Adnan Sami says he realised the seriousness of his weight problem when a doctor announced that he has only six months to live.
"The doctor panicked my family by saying I'm a walking time bomb, that it's a miracle I was still alive. He gave me six months more to live. I hated the man. I never wanted to see him again. The doctor said, 'Within six months your family will find you dead in a hotel room.' That was my reality check," Adnan told
He lost 85 kg of his 200 kg and the singer intends to lose at least 40 more in the coming months.
"I was living in denial for years, not facing up to the fact that I was obese. When well-wishers would warn me, I'd brush them off as being melodramatic. Would you believe, when I was in university I was sporty. I was the captain of my squash team.
"Surprisingly, I didn't become breathless while singing, though I did become asthmatic."
He says he resorted to food to cope with his divorce with first wife Zeba Bakhtiar, who played the title role in "Henna".
"When I went through my divorce, I was devastated by the end of the marriage and I lost custody of my son whom I completely adored. I began to look to food for emotional sustenance. It soon became a habit, even when I put my life together, the habit remained. I was gaining weight constantly.
"Food became an addiction. Soon my weight became an obstruction in my life. But surprisingly most of my faculties were in order. I did have a high blood pressure though. But that's a genetic problem."
Adnan's last meal before the dieting began?
"It was a huge potter-house steak with mashed potatoes with butter and a huge New York cheese cake to top it all on June 6, 2006. I ate it all on my own. Then I just gave up the food. And now I hate the sight of fatty food."
He has turned a vegetarian also.
"I'm allowed to eat any kind of meat, but I just don't feel like. I'm on a high-protein diet - no bread, no rice, no sugar and no oil. My meals are salad for lunch and a bowl of daal with no seasoning in the night. For snack I've popcorn without butter. And I can have as many diet drinks as I want."
Adnan heaves a sigh of relief.
"I've got my sleep back. I had reached a point where I couldn't lie down flat on my back. It was so ironical. I'd be staying at the most beautiful presidential suites in the world and I couldn't use the damn beds! I had to sit upright and doze off. At the tail end of my obesity I was using a walking stick and a wheelchair to remain mobile. I had forgotten how to balance myself on my own two feet. It was a nightmare. I'd walk in constant fear of losing balance. Believe me there's no nobility in immobility."
He stares back in incredulity.
"I never imagined god could swing this back for me. There were other occasions in the past when I resolved to lose weight, and I failed miserably. But this time it was do-or-die. Today I'd tell my fans there's more of me to love because I've bought extra time for myself by losing weight. Of course, I can drop dead any time. But the chances of dying have lessened drastically."
After shedding weight, the singer, who sang hit numbers like "Meter down" in "Taxi No. 9211" and the title song of "Salaam-e-Ishq", feels like a new man.
"I feel born again. I am so thankful to all those people who expressed their concern for my weight, at the risk of getting their head bitten off. I feel it very difficult to share my pain. That's why I resorted to food and refused to face up to my eating problem."
People close to Adnan still refuse to believe he has kicked off his food mania.
"I was coming back from the US. On the flight they got me loads of food. My staff told them to just get vegetables and dal. They were aghast. Now everyone's tuned in. I now realise what all I've been missing out on all these years. Now I take nothing for granted. I work out for one and a half hours every day. I enjoy travelling again. That had become a nightmare."
So is Adnan ready for love?
"Oh yes! I'm ready to give love another try. Perhaps marriage too as I love babies. There is less of me today. But the heart is just as big.
"I feel musically fertile. Personally too I'm happier. I'm allowed to meet my son Azaan. His mother and I have found a comfort level. She's an amazing mother. I'm so happy and impressed with the way she has brought him up. He's awonderful child with a great sense of humour. And he looks just like me."
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