Lucknow is engrained in me: Salma Agha

Lucknow: Veteran Bollywood actor Salma Agha's Overseas Indian Citizenship (OIC) card bears a Lucknow connection.
The singer-actor of 'Nikah' fame, who has recently been given her OIC card, cleared the air about her Indian origins against being called a Pakistani and about her maternal grandfather Jugal Kishore Mehra, who brought Lucknow into her life.
It was because of Mehra, the maternal uncle of Raj Kapoor, that Agha felt a close bond with Lucknow, something that she recounted in her application for the process too.
"My grandfather was posted as the director of Vividh Bharati for 10 years in Lucknow. My mother spent her childhood here and our nanny was also from Lucknow. My aunt is married into a family in Sheeshmahal. My connection with Lucknow has been long and old and I keep visiting the city often. I have a large number of friends and a huge social circle here," she said while speaking to TOI from Mumbai.
With fondness for Lucknow, Agha said she picked up the iconic 'hum' of Lucknow's language and was even mocked at for it.
"When I used the term 'hum' for myself, people used to ask how many people am I talking about. At that time, I consciously decided to not use the word, but ultimately, my Lucknow connection overpowered and I decided to stick with it," she said.
According to OCI rules, a foreign national who is a child, grandchild or great grandchild of an Indian citizen, is eligible for availing the card. However, a person with Pakistani or Bangladeshi lineage is not eligible for its registration.
The OCI card, Agha said, is an important identity of the country that she holds with her. "Getting it would never have been a problem. I have my mother's ration card. The house we live in in Mumbai is hers and I have several documents to support my Indian nationality," she said. When asked how the 'Pakistani' tag got attached to her, she replied, "When I was selected for the film 'Nikah', I was studying in Britain. As the storyline had a Muslim background, director BR Chopra decided to give me the 'Pakistani girl' tag and we did not consider opposing it at that time."
Agha's grandfather had also worked in the 1932 film 'Heer Ranjha' with actor Anwari Begum. It was to marry her that he converted to Islam. "Things have been blown out of proportion and I am being termed a Pakistani national. This is not true. I was born and brought up in Mumbai and hold a UK citizenship. Apart from Mumbai, Lucknow is the city I have ingrained in me," she said. "As for the OCI card, I have been allotted my card days ago and I could have applied for it earlier too without an issue of my origin."