9 unknown facts about ‘Raees’ actress Mahira Khan

Ancestors with Indian roots!

Mahira's ancestors belonged to India. Her father, Hafeez Khan, was born in Delhi before the Independence. He then migrated to Pakistan after the Partition. In an interview, Mahira had said, "My grandmother would talk about Meerut, but now there is no family this side of the border (in India). When I was leaving for Mumbai, I was told to meet someone's aunt's cousin uncle.... you get the drift."

The wedding!

While studying in the United States, Mahira met businessman, Ali Askari, in 2005 and married him in 2007.

And the divorce!

Mahira and Ali got divorced in 2015.

Her son, her lifeline

The couple have a son together, Azlaan, who was born in 2014. She has admitted to going to the ends of the earth for only one man, and he is her son.

Shared custody

Mahira and her husband Ali share custody of their son.

A dotting single mother!

Mahira always considers her son to be her first priority. In a recent interview, Mahira said, "I do only one film at a time. My first priority is my child. So it's a lot of hard work . But it can be done. It's all about choices. Many times I have to let go of good work. Fortunately the work I've done has worked for me."

Her rise to fame

While she started as a VJ with shows like 'MTV's Most Wanted' and 'Weekends With Mahira' in Pakistan. She then rose to fame with a show named 'Humsafar', which became quite popular in India as well. It used to premiere on 'Zee Zindagi'.

Favourite Indian Actor

Her favourite Indian actor is Guru Dutt. Speaking of her admiration for the veteran actor, she said, "I discovered when I was 18. I saw 'Pyasa' and it changed my life. I can't explain what it meant to me. It opened a whole new kind of Indian cinema to me. Prior to that I was into the song-and-dance films, the Anil Kapoor films and so on. After watching Guru Dutt's films I became a huge fan of Sahir Ludhianvi's poetry and the songs of Guru Dutt's films."

Controversial Statements

Mahira was often heard speaking against the Indian industry through statements like, "I can't work in Indian shows... they run for too long," and "Pakistanis should not be inspired by Bollywood at all." It sure was a shock to see her make her debut in Bollywood after making such bold statements about the Industry.