Adaa Khan: I thought maybe I should start looking for another career

“I never expected ke yahan tak pahunchugi,” says Adaa Khan who has been in the industry for 13 years now. “I started my career with ads and I never imagined I would be an actor. Things kept rolling and then I landed my first acting role,” she adds.

Khan admits that she has had her fair share of struggles and recalls how tough the last two years of the pandemic were on the entertainment industry. The Naagin actor says, “During the pandemic, things looked bleak. We didn’t know what would happen next. At one point, I thought maybe I should start looking for another career. An actor’s job is not 9-to-5pm neither does it come with a monthly pay cheque. We all have been through such insecurities and we have to push through and move ahead. Moreover in the last one year, due to Covid-19, things have really changed in the industry. Budgets have been slashed and makers prefer to take fresh faces in TV shows. On Ott, makers prefer movie actors and somewhere down the line, we are like kahan jaaye hum? Actors like us are figuring out where to go. But things seem to be better this year and I shot for two OTT projects.”

Looking back, the actor feels the fact that she comes from an orthodox family and yet she is an actor today is a huge deal. She shares, “In my family, my cousins and aunts wear hijab. And I am the only person who is in the glamour field. They are proud and supportive of me. My achievement was I could get their love and support and no one is against me. My dad was orthodox but my mum’s support paved the way for me. I feel getting my family’s support made me stronger and helped me work harder.”

In 2010, she starred in the TV show Behenein, followed by Amrit Manthan, later Comedy Nights Bachao, Vish Ya Amrit: Sitara and Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 10. Thankful and grateful for her career growth, she feels her mum has been her guardian angel. She explains, “I might have taken small steps in my career but I am happy with the growth. I don’t want to reach anywhere chalang maar ke. Sure, every actor goes through struggles and challenges.”