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- In Search Of A Home Radhika Rao & Vinay Sapru’s next film. 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 films 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. “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.”
The movie is the perfect entertainer with drama, emotion and music. “Afghan- In Search Of A Home” is the story of a musician Refugee from Afghanistan who flees his country of birth under extenuating circumstances to make a very long and arduous walk towards seeking an identity and a home. The film is a story of music and the musicians in countries where music is that one thing no one needs or wants anymore cause in a disturbed and violent terrain the first casualty is always art.
What happens to all those poor musicians? What happens to a beloved piano or a beautiful guitar or a rubab when all you are allowed to carry is your own weight and those of your family members as you flee the homes you have known all your life?
When Radhika and Vinay shared the story with Adnan he had goosebumps listening to it… He was in awe of a story full of joys and tears, rubabs and dholaks, Invisible boundaries and displaced homes.
It had taken a decade for the concept to be found and Adnan couldn’t wait to be a part of this poignant and inspiring tale of the survival of music in a foreign country.
Adnan says that this movie is very close to his heart as it is his first movie as an actor and as an Indian.
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 himself came to India in 1999 and after a long drawn out battle, the singer was awarded citizenship of India. “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,” he said.
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. “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,” he laughed.
In spite of taking on the acting mantle, his music will not take a backseat “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.”, he signed off.
