Zahrah S. Khan

Zahrah S. Khan
Born	Zahrah S Khan (1992-01-01) 1 January 1992 London, England
Parent(s)	Rahmat Khan Salma Agha
Relatives	Jugal Kishore Mehra (Uncle) Anwar Begum (maternal great grandfather) Nasrullah Khan (paternal grandfather)
Family	Khan squash family Kapoor family

Zahrah S. Khan (born 1 January 1992) is a British Indian actress and singer based in India. She has primarily worked as a playback singer and also as an actress in the Mumbai-based Bollywood film and music industry.

Family background

Zahrah S Khan, was born to the Agha & Khan families, who have both excelled at film and sports. Her maternal lineage bears a very prominent name in the Indian film industry working which dates to the 1940s when her Great Grand Father Jugal Kishore Mehra, who was also uncle to Bollywood Icon, Raj Kapoor and great Grandfather to Zahrah S Khan, from a dynasty as important to Indian cinema as were the Kennedys to politics. On the other hand, Anwar Begum, Jugal Kishore Mehra’s wife starred in the first ever “Heer Ranjha” (an Indian version of Romeo & Juliet). It was therefore only natural for Zahrah’s talented grand-mother Nasreen Mehra, to make her debut with the legendary director AK Kardar in the Film “Shahjehan” opposite the legendary actor Sehgal. Zahrah’s Mother Salma Agha made her debut as an actress and singer with BR Chopra, another major director and writer of the 1980s, whose family now own India’s leading Bollywood production house that is known for having co-produced 'Grace of Monaco' with Nicole Kidman and Tim Roth that opened Cannes Film Festival a couple of years ago, as well as, ‘Titli’, part of the official Selection. Her very 1st film “Nikaah” that went on to becoming an immense Box-Office hit & one of the most popular films till date that ran in a theatre for 5 years continuously, making her overnight superstar, earning her a prestigious Filmfare Award for Best Singer, the nominations included Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle too.

All the leading ladies in the family have been singing & Acting stars of their time and have given some very popular musical hits. The paternal side of the family has also illustrated itself and marked the world of sports. The family again hails from an illustrious sports background and her great grandfather Nasrullah khan was coach to maharaja of Raigadh and then at the university of Ali Garh . Post that he became the Vice Roy (Lord Vavel’s ) coach who was in charge after the Queen .He even trained Jonah Barrington and had also created the first squash ball in India before partition . Zahrah’s Father Rahmat Khan himself ranks as one of the top 10 squash coaches in the world and has trained some of the world and British open champions in squash and the Indian National champion as well .

Her grandfather Nasrullah Khan was a World Class Squash Player who won several titles. Zahrah’s uncle Jahangir Khan was a 10-time British Open winner and was personally trained by her father Rahmat Khan. Rahmat Khan has given other well-known and famous champions to the world of squash by training teams that have represented countries such as India, Kuwait, UK, Pakistan and Brunei.

Music career

Zahrah S Khan’s songs have been well appreciated as one of them was a Single duet song called Khud se Zyada by Universal music’s Vyrl Original in collaboration with Music Composer/ Producer Tanishk Bagchi - this marked her debut into singles an then took form as a full-fledged career , she has songs like Kya Karte The Saajna which was a remake of the famous original , in Ayushmann Khurranna starrer Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan as a first playback in Bollywood. She was also the first Bollywood singer to perform at Mawazine which is world's second biggest music festival along with some other famous international artists including Nicki Minaj, Central Cee etc.

Acting career

On the acting front in the pipeline Zahrah has signed the film Imaginary Rain directed by Vikas Khanna whose Film Starring Neena Gupta “The Last Colour” was selected for the Oscars. In the film Imaginary Rain Zahrah has played Shabana Azmi’s daughter, the film is based on a woman’s life and her love for cooking. And she is currently working on and in news for her upcoming Project with Mohanlal, Roshan Meka, Srikanth Meka, Ragini and Shanaya Kapoor- Vrushabha, A 100 crore project which has been attracting a lot of attention from the Indian film industry. Had played the lead character in a short film called “Khoj” which premiered at Cannes Film Festival's, Short Film corner and then was nominated for the Oscars and reached the semi-finals. The film won her instant recognition for her powerful performance as it was a story based on a 19-year-old girl, struggling with the consequences of NRI arranged marriages that are commonplace in India. This women-centric film, also directed by Raj Babbar’s Niece Kajri Babbar, the film was made with the purpose of highlighting the harsh reality which Indian women are still facing in traditional conservation of India. The film is part of the international festival circuit, and one gets to notice Zahrah’s versatile approach in exploring various genres.

Inspiration

Since Zahrah grew up in such an illustrious family, there was a natural inclination towards the fine arts. However, she is quick to add that her passion towards singing and acting was something that she imbibed on her own. Zahrah also quipped that up until 2019, she had never thought of music/acting as a career, but things were just meant to be. Zahrah says that even though she loves to explore both mediums, her heart naturally gravitates more towards singing, though acting too, is something that she will continue to do.

Discography

Originals/Music Videos

Year	Song	Co-singer(s)	Music Label	Notes
2019	Khud Se Zyada	Tanishk Bagchi	VYRLOriginals
2020	Jogan	Yasser Desai	Gaana Originals	Garnered 40 million plus streams within 2 months of the song release
2021	Dil Hai Deewana	Darshan Raval	T-Series	Featuring Arjun Kapoor & Rakul Preet Singh
	Dance Meri Rani	Guru Randhawa		Featuring Nora Fatehi
	Beetein Lamhe/madno	Tanishk Bagchi, and Abhijit Vaghani		Cover of song by Beete Lamhein and Madno
2022	Mai Tennu Chad Jaungi	Solo		Featuring Shaheer Sheikh
	Fakeeran	Solo		Featuring Mouni Roy
	Tera Saath Ho	Guru Randhawa		Featuring Karan Wahi
	Oops	King
2023	Love Stereo Again	Tiger Shroff	T-Series	Recreation of song by Edward Maya
	Ek Tu Hi Hai	Stebin Ben		Featuring Aditi Budhathoki
2024	Bin Tere	Tanishk Bagchi	Jjust Music	Song for Rakul Preet and Jackky Bhagnani’s Wedding.

Film songs

Year	Song	Film	Co-singer(s)	Composer(s)	Lyrics	Music Label	Notes
2013	Barbaadiyaan	Aurangzeb	Ram Sampath	Amartya Bobo Rahut	Puneet Sharma	YRF Music	Credited as "Sashaa Agha"
2020	Kya Karte The Saajna	Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan	Anuradha Paudwal	Tanishk Bagchi	Vayu Shrivastav	T-Series	Remake
	Nayi Dhoop	Unpaused	Solo		Rashmi Virag	Amazon Music	Amazon Prime Video anthology film
	Nayi Dhoop (Reprise)
2021	Zindagi (Ittefaq)	Ajeeb Daastaans			Tanishk Bagchi	Sony Music India	Netflix anthology film
	Dhoom Tara	Bell Bottom			Tanishk Bagchi	Saregama Music
	Sakhiyan 2.0		Maninder Buttar		Tanishk Bagchi, Babbu, Maninder Buttar		Remake
	Har Funn Maula	Koi Jaane Na	Vishal Dadlani		Amitabh Bhattacharya	T-Series
	Kusu Kusu	Satyameva Jayate 2	Dev Negi		Rashmi Virag, Tanishk Bagchi
	Tenu Lehenga		Jass Manak		Tanishk Bagchi, Jass Manak		Remake
	Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui 2.0	Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui	Guru Randhawa, Jassi Sidhu		Vayu
	Dil Nahi Todna	Sardar Ka Grandson	Tanishk Bagchi		Tanishk Bagchi		Netflix film
2022	Aap Jaisa Koi	An Action Hero	Altamash Faridi		Indeevar, Tanishk Bagchi		Remake
	Aap Jaisa Koi (Film Version)		Yash Narvekar
	Mera Dil Gaaye Ja (Zooby Zooby)	Dhokha: Round D Corner			Kumaar, Anjaan
	Nach Punjabaan	Jug Jug Jeeyo	Gippy Grewal, Tanishk Bagchi, Romy		Tanishk Bagchi, Abrar-ul-Haq
	Jaise Savan		Tanishk Bagchi		Tanishk Bagchi
	Aafat	Liger			Rashmi Virag	Sony Music India
	Manchali		Farhad Bhiwandiwala		Farhad Bhiwandiwala
	Kinna Sona	Phone Bhoot	Tanishk Bagchi		Tanishk Bagchi	Zee Music Company
	Saathiya	Cuttputlli	Nikhil D'Souza				Disney Plus Hotstar film
2023	Dilon Ki Doriyan	Bawaal	Vishal Mishra, Romy		Arafat Mehmood	T-Series	Amazon Prime Video film
	Ghar Nahi Jaana	Gumraah	Armaan Malik, Salma Agha		Rashmi Virag
	Kudiyee Ni Teri	Selfiee	The PropheC		The PropheC, Tanishk Bagchi	Play DMF	Remake
	Gamey Gamey	Chatrapathi	Armaan Malik		Mayur Puri	Junglee Music
2024	Durr Na Karin	Khel Khel Mein	Vishal Mishra & Nabeel Shaukat Ali		Kumaar, Khadim Hussain	T-Series	Remake
	Ishare Tere	Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay	Guru Randhawa		Guru Randhawa, Zahrah S Khan

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Director	Release Date	Notes
2013	Aurangzeb	Ritu	Atul Sabharwal	May 17, 2013	Her debut film.
2014	Desi Kattey	Paridhi Rathore	Anand Kumar	September 26, 2014	Film also starred famous Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty, popular TV actor Jay Bhanushali and veteran Bollywood actor Vinod Khanna's nephew Akhil Kapur
2019	Khoj (short film)	Gurpreet (Gurri) - Lead	Kajri Babbar	January 13, 2019	Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and then was nominated for The Student Academy Awards and reached the semi-finals.
2023	Imaginary Rain	Sarah (Prerna Malhotra's daughter)	Vikas Khanna	January 16, 2023	She played Shabana Azmi’s daughter in the film. It is based on a woman’s life and her love for cooking.
2024	Vrushabha		Nanda Kishore	2024 (upcoming)	Feature Mohanlal, Shanaya Kapoor, Zahrah S Khan and Roshan Meka as lead characters.

External links

• Media related to Zahrah S. Khan at Wikimedia Commons
• Zahrah S. Khan on Instagram
• Zahrah S Khan on Spotify