Key to successful marriage is a baby: Yasir says he wants a big family

Actor spoke about his early career, his wife Iqra Aziz, and marriage as an institution

Actor Yasir Hussain entered the entertainment industry with gigs in theatre plays and as a VJ but always had an eye to conquer the TV and film industry – as an actor, writer and director. The Kukri actor, who played the role of a servant in his first TV serial, now believes that his struggle did not go in vain since he got everything he desired, and more.

Hussain made a guest appearance on Nida Yasir's morning show and spoke about his early career, his wife Iqra Aziz, and marriage as an institution. Hussain was a big name in the theatre world when he started but did not know enough people in the TV industry. While he was a VJ, he knew actor Ali Safina, who at that time was working in Nadeem Baig's drama, and asked him to introduce them. When the meeting didn't happen at that time, Hussain was wondering whether he should go back. "I was living alone in Karachi so that can get depressing as well," he said. However, he got a chance to write a few reenactments shows for a friend.

“So that’s where your training for Javed Iqbal started. Writing crime thrillers for re-enactment shows,” joked Yasir. "I wrote about eight scripts for them. Some characters that I liked; I would play them myself too. So, this one time, were shooting a suicide bombing scene. And as soon as I opened my jacket for the camera, people started running and the police threw me on the ground thinking it was real," he recalled, and added that while that was scary in itself, it got him a meeting with writer and actor Muhammad Ahmed.

"This cameraman on set told me about Dareecha. Ayaz Samoo was in it and he left for some reason and he asked me to give it a shot. Muhammad Ahmed said yes. I did it. I started acting as a servant and Asad Siddiqui was in the lead role. Irony now is that I wrote a script just now where Asad will play the role of a servant in my drama,” he laughed.

“But Aangan Terha was my real break. The whole industry saw it. From Mahira Khan to Fawad Khan to Bushra Ansari and the channel people, everyone saw it. And they liked me in it,” he said with pride. “Wit is in my family. My father was always like this. Sarcastic and funny.”

Upon whether he completed his studies before acting, Hussain revealed that he completed his FA but didn’t do his bachelors then. “I tried to but I failed in two subjects,” he added.

Moving onto his personal life, Hussain shed light on how his award show proposal gets criticised a lot. “A lot of people criticise the gesture saying that it was a publicity stunt. They say that if it was all decided then why did I do the big proposal on air. Well, it was decided between Farhan (Saeed) and Urwa (Hocane) too and yet Farhan took her to Paris and proposed in front of the Eiffel Tower,” he exclaimed.

“That’s because girls love surprises. They grow up reading fairy tales and they deserve that kind of love,” he added, saying that it was Frieha Altaf’s idea and it was so discreet that even his co-host Saba Qamar didn’t know about it.

Hussain and Aziz have a baby boy Kabir Hussain. Upon further growing their family, the Badshah Begum actor, who has 12 siblings, said, “I do want a bigger family and more kids but I’ve left that choice to Iqra. It's her body and her choice in a way that she will decide how many kids we should have, but I want more kids.”

“In my opinion, a baby is the key to a successful marriage. I understand people who can’t reproduce due to fertility issues but I don’t understand those who willingly do not try to have kids. I don’t know how close their bond is. My respect for Iqra increased after Kabir. He brought us closer than ever,” he shared.

Upon industry and friendships, Hussain shared that he might come off as friendly to everyone but he wouldn’t call everyone a friend. “That’s the thing about our fraternity, Nida. If I call you somewhere, you will come and vice versa. But everyone who I meet in the industry and joke around with isn’t my friend per se.” 

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