Nadia Khan - Pretty, perky lady
Sadia Malik

ISLAMABAD—She rocks! If you need inspiration to kick-start your quest for impossible showbiz dreams, flip on the vibrant morning show titled Nadia Khan Show - Geo Mazay Sey, from 9-11 on weekdays. There’s a good chance you’ll see a pretty, perky lady looking back at you with a pair of warm brown eyes and an extremely innocent, young face. Nadia Khan’s wit, humour and quick thinking are displayed in front of the camera.
When and where were you born?
I was born on 22nd of May 1979, in Quetta, which makes me a Gemini. I can still disclose my age, (laughs) for at least another four years. Describe yourself.
I’m a very positive yet stubborn person. I like to celebrate life and have fun and I’m definitely not a control freak. I don’t like anybody to suffer and I don’t allow anyone to give me pain. As a young child, did you have any idea, any vision, of what you wanted to accomplish? Yes. I guess I was pretty sure what I wanted to do from the time I remember. When I was a child I used to play six or seven characters at one time. I was 14 years old when my first show came on television. My first show was Dark Time and the first serial was with Hasina Moen. I wouldn’t have acted if it was for anyone else other than Hasina.
A lot of people in showbiz start very early, and now I realise why.
How did your family react towards this?
By the grace of God I have a very broad-minded family. I made my television debut through NTM, 14 years back. My cousin and sister in-law were working with NTM, which was, in those days, introducing a lot of youngsters as compares and announcers. As I mentioned earlier, I was at that time a student of class VIII and wanted to become an announcer. I sought my father’s permission to appear on NTM as an announcer. Finally one day, I went to meet my cousin who was, unlike my father, hesitant at first to allow me to work on TV. I had a screen test done and it was there when a director spotted me.
And what about your husband?
My husband is my backbone. It’s taken me seven years to change his thinking and now he is so proud of me. He keeps telling me that I have to grow as an artist, and helps me with the current issues concerning politics and the newsy bit. He doesn’t only respect my profession but also supports me with new ideas. My in-laws are my biggest critics but their support is immense.
Did you ever consider any other career besides talking, broadcasting, acting?
Never. This is what I wanted to do. But life is very unpredictable it makes different choices for you. I gave it all up when I got married to my Dubai based husband. So when I moved here there wasn’t much to do and I couldn’t join the Arabic media because of the language. I wanted my own set-up and hence I waited for something ‘Pakistani’ to happen. And here I am, back to the showbiz arena.
Do you feel that acting, direction and production have changed during the recent years since PTV?
Media boom in Pakistan happened much too quickly, the media wasn’t ready as they lacked the technical staff. Channels are scared to invest in individual growth because they’ll be dumped as soon as the staff is trained. It is very unfortunate that people want to become rich overnight. For them it’s all about money, not about channel loyalty.
On the other hand, actors’ attitude has changed because of so much work happening. All of them are so busy that they can’t stay focused due to this.
Do you feel it’s difficult to conduct an interview in pure Urdu? Or there is no such restriction for your show?
never wanted to do a complete English show because my forte is Urdu and so I waited for a long time for this show to happen. I don’t communicate in proper Urdu, it’s a mix of English as well and there are no such limitations for my show.
Is it important to be educated in the field of production?
Certainly, learning the craft teaches one to recognise better directors, teaches one punctuality and respect for others in the team. It’s a great career for women, its for the educated people, they must study media as there are so many opportunities in this field. Media needs talented and experienced women.
How do you go about it, right from how the questions are being conceptualised, to coordinating and finalising the high-profile guests?
My team does some of the research for me, whatever is catchy I remember and what I don’t remember is not interesting enough. As a compere, I feel, my brain connects to the brain of my viewers. Hence I know what will click to them. Over the years my thinking process has become so fast that I edit everything in my mind before I say it therefore never had to regret anything I said. And as far as guests are concerned, I avoid specialists like doctors and all. I don’t have to fill a slot. Exclusivity is an essential part of the show and who ever we approve of, has to be credible.
Who came up with the concept?
There’s an entire team called Geo Idea Cell working for the show operating from Pakistan. My director wanted a morning show as a vehicle to show that celebrities are just like everybody else. So it was a chance to hang out with all these famous people.