Kitsch art to hotels, royals on roll in Pak

BHOPAL: Heir apparent to Bhopal state, Begum Abida Sultaan, migrated to Pakistan, imagining it to be a country of her utopian dreams. Alas! That was not to be, and she began to miss “the atmosphere of freedom, justice, fairness and tolerance” that India offered, she said in an interview to website few years before her death in May 2002.
Though she regretted the move, she was glad to see her son’s career take off in Pakistan.Her son, Shahryar Khan, retired as Pakistan's foreign secretary.
Third generation of Bhopal's heir apparent seem to be doing well , Abida Begum's granddaughter Faiza Sultan Khan, who owes her nomenclature to a Bhopali Begum, is a bookworm and an animal lover of repute. She is not only a voracious reader, but edits and critiques books for publishing houses. Recent Pakistani titles that hit the bestseller lists are her editorial offerings to the subcontinent.
Interestingly, her Twitter handle is called “BhopalHouse” even though she has little or no connection with her ancestors' city. Or perhaps it is an ode to the “Bhopal House” bought in posh Clifton area of Karachi on July 1, 1947, by Hamidullah Khan, Nawab of Bhopal, from Seth Girdharilal Moolchand Mohatta, merchant and landlord of Karachi in anticipation of his move to Pakistan for the princely sum of Rs 1,85,000. After a long legal tangle, Abida Begum's family was unceremoniously evicted days after her death.
Faiza's brother, Omar Khan, runs the popular HotSpot chain of restaurants in Pakistan's metros. Khan, who studied films at Emerson College in Boston, specialises in the horror genre. His debut horror film was ‘Zibahkhaana’ or slaughterhouse, did well in Pakistani cinemas. Quite a few wait for Omar's special Valentine's Day horror screenings!
He also dabbles in kitsch art. His posters have a cult following, much like his homemade ice creams — blood oozing out of the face of a shalwar-kameez wearing woman and titled “O Beghairat”! Abida Begum's third grandson, Ali, is a professor of anthropology at prestigious Lahore University of Management Sciences, and helped start the HotSpot chain from home. Ali has the strongest Bhopal connection being married to Mariam, daughter of Kaiser Bia.