Veteran actress Salma Agha's daughter Zahrah Khan, who is the voice behind hit tracks like the single ‘Dance Meri Rani’, and ‘Kusu Kusu’, ‘Tenu Lehenga’ from the 2021 film ‘Satyameva Jayate 2’, has created an identity for herself in a short span of time.
Zahrah, although now better known for her melodious voice, made her acting debut with the 2013 film ‘Aurangzeb’ starring Arjun Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Amrita Singh among others
She speaks to The Free Press Journal about the lessons learned from her mother, journey in the entertainment industry, upcoming projects, and more.
Zahrah, who is the daughter of renowned actress and singer Salma Agha of ‘Dil Ke Armaan’ fame, says that her mother always taught her to never take her professional life personally.
She says, “There are times there's rejection there are things which go up and down because whoever is dealing with you, they're not doing it in a personal capacity it's just pure business. My mother always told me ‘Maintain a healthy and good camaraderie and relationship with your professionals and your co-workers,’ so that’s something I always stick by.”
When asked if her mother backed the idea of her getting into the same line of work, she recalls, “My mom was very supportive because as they say the apple never falls far from the tree. In fact, she's my number one critic as well so she always says whatever you want to do, do it properly or don't do it at all.”
Zahrah admits that star kids do get opportunities served on a platter, but the effort and hard work put in by an artist, regardless of being an insider or outsider, is equal. However, she asserts that those who come from a filmy background have more pressure on them because their folks are already famous.
“Parents of these kids already have a huge fan following, who expect a lot from them, which creates enormous amount of pressure,” says the songstress.
After the failure of ‘Aurangzeb’, Zahrah was missing in action. She says that when she did the film, she was very young and wasn’t well prepared to take on the industry. However, that wasn’t the reason behind her break from acting.
She says, “I wanted to understand things better, and my mom always said that ‘you're joining the industry too soon you're too young for it right now’. I did a film called ‘Khoj’ which opened at Cannes Film Festival and reached the semi-finals at the Oscars. It was a very performance-oriented film and I feel very proud that I got to do such amazing work. After that I kind of got an idea that acting is definitely one of my first loves and will always be.”
Sharing her take on encountering roadblocks in a fast-paced industry, Zahrah says, “Hurdles are something which are there in every field and as long as you're ready to work hard enough for it and you have the talent there's nothing that can stop you. You should never let anything be an excuse to not being able to do it. If there's something that is not working out make double the effort. That's the kind of confidence one should have in their talent, in their work, and obviously if you're that passionate, it will happen.”
Zahrah feels great to learn that she’s getting good results for her hard work. However, she humbly says, “I still have a long way to go.”
Meanwhile on work front, Zahrah has shot for a film titled ‘Imaginary Rain, directed by Vikas Khanna, which features her as Shabana Azmi’s daughter. She also has songs in the upcoming films ‘Phone Bhoot’ and ‘Jug Jugg Jeeyo’, as well as two more singles coming out with T Series.
