In the world of showbiz, where stories often shimmer with glitz and glamour, journey of Adnan Sami has been nothing short of dramatic, with all the makings of a real-life Bollywood film.
The singer, known for his velvety voice and iconic tracks like ‘Lift Karade’ and ‘Bheegi Bheegi Raaton Mein’, has been candid in a new interview about why he left behind a career in Pakistan and started afresh in India.
And no, it wasn’t about money, fame, or a PR strategy. It was about survival, both creative and emotional.
Let’s rewind to the late ’90s. Adnan Sami had already made waves with his music, but things suddenly took a nosedive. “After the songs I released in 1998, people in the Pakistani music industry decided I was done. Just like that,” he said, speaking with India TV. “They didn’t even market my music. My album disappeared without a trace. No one even knew it had released.”
That left Sami heartbroken. At the time, he was in Canada, feeling cut off from the industry he once thought was his home. “I knew they’d done it deliberately,” he added. It was more than professional disappointment, it was personal disillusionment.
But life, as it often does, threw him a lifeline, and it came from none other than the legendary Asha Bhosle.
Sami had previously collaborated with Asha ji on the hauntingly beautiful ‘Kabhi To Nazar Milao’, and she was a pillar of strength when he needed guidance the most. “I told her I was thinking of recording in London. She asked me, ‘Why London? If you want to make music that reaches the world, come to Mumbai. This is the capital of Hindi music.’”
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And just like that, he packed his bags. “Main boriya bistar le ke pahuch gaya Mumbai,” Sami said.
Mumbai didn’t just offer him a stage, it gave him a family. Asha Bhosle and her clan welcomed him warmly, even letting him stay at the home of her late husband, the music legend R.D. Burman. “Living in his home felt like staying in a music temple,” said Adnan Sami.
That move changed everything.
Tracks that had flopped or gone unnoticed in Pakistan, like ‘Kabhi To Nazar Milao’, ‘Bheegi Bheegi Raaton Mein’, and ‘Lift Karade’, suddenly found new life in India. They were marketed with flair, played across every radio station, and lapped up by an audience that couldn’t get enough. Sami became a sensation almost overnight.
“I never expected that kind of love,” he admitted. “India embraced me in a way I could never have imagined.”
But Sami’s story also includes a sharp critique of the music industry in Pakistan. He pointed out that while legendary artists like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mehdi Hassan, and Reshma were respected, they never got the institutional support they deserved.
“They were icons, yet their final days were full of pain and neglect,” Sami said. “Authorities never helped them, even when the people worshipped them.”
He added that even though many of these artists thrived during their prime, their fame grew exponentially in India. “The size of the audience here, and the respect for music, is unmatched.”
However, fame didn’t come without backlash. Sami faced heavy criticism in Pakistan, especially after becoming an Indian citizen in 2016. Some people accused him of abandoning his roots. The backlash even reached political levels. In 2005, the then-President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, wrote a letter to Sami’s father, accusing the singer of turning his back on the country.
But Sami dismissed that letter as misinformed. “In 2005, I was still a Pakistani citizen. I don’t know where Musharraf got his information from, but clearly it came from the wrong people,” he said.
As for the idea that he chose India for wealth or fame? Sami brushed it off completely. “If money was my goal, I wouldn’t have left behind my properties in Pakistan, worth crores. I started from scratch here. That wasn’t easy.”
He added that being a public figure from Pakistan came with its own set of challenges, especially while working in India. “You’re always under the scanner. I even wrote to Musharraf for help at one point, but nothing came of it.”