Now that the High Court has granted Adnan Sami permission to leave the country -- the singer's world tour begins this week -- Sami has taken the radical decision to gradually ease ties with Pakistan, his country of birth.
This, despite the fact that Pakistani artistes like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Meera have been in a spot of trouble in India. More recently, Salma Agha and her daughter even raised a stink over an alleged MMS leak.
Breaking his silence after the Mumbai High Court's verdict, Sami, who is a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, but lives in Mumbai said, "I don't wish to be seen as one more troublemaker from Pakistan. But the truth is, I don't see myself as belonging to any country but India anymore."
In fact, said Sami, he was offended by the suggestion that he may flee India while performing at concerts abroad, by transferring assets to international accounts. "Kahan jaaonga main? Yeh mera mulk hai. (Where will I go? This is my land.)
I don't understand why people are constantly referring to my Pakistani antecedents. It is not important where I come from, it's about where I now belong. My career, home and wife are in Mumbai." Sami intends to invite his son Azaan to Mumbai.
"Azaan wants to be a musician like me. We'll work together in Mumbai. His mother (actress Zeba Bakhtiar) too, was close to the Indian entertainment industry. My mother spends most of her time here (in Mumbai). Let the Indian government confiscate my property -- we'll stay in a tent and pay taxes. But we won't allow anyone to drive us out of Mumbai, " says the musician.
Adnan now leaves for concerts in Dubai, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. "I have never felt happier. With the High Court lifting a ban on my travel a weight has lifted from my shoulder.
Now when I perform on stage I will feel like a free man. But wherever I am, I can't wait to return home to India."
From Pakistan, with love
Yesteryear actress Salma Agha and her daughter Zarah Khan met Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik last week about an alleged MMS clip, which was circulated on YouTube.
Zarah alleged that former boyfriend Ruslaan Mumtaz, who is the son of Salma Agha's close friend Anjana Mumtaz, released the clip that reportedly showed her kissing another man.
Zarah claimed that the woman in the clip isn't her. Salma Agha is a singer and actress from Pakistan who sang and acted in Indian films in the '80s. She lives in Lokhandwala.