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Mahira Khan returned from the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday and as expected, she took a day to recover from the jet lag and overall exhaustion of the exhilarating trip. There were so many spotlight moments, all of which you’ll read in detail in the exclusive interview with Instep on Sunday (in tomorrow’s paper, and we will upload it here too), but this particular little anecdote deserved a little story of its own. I also thought it would make a fun teaser to the complete story.

Mahira shared – and I didn’t know this before – that she has a history of tripping over her own feet. Everywhere. That’s one reason why her bodyguard Olivier was always at hand; he was there to prevent her from falling in her heels. But she still did! She fell flat during a L’Oreal recording, but, she laughed when sharing the story, as soon as she fell she shouted, “Hit hai!” She said at that exact moment she knew that her Cannes trip would be a success.

 

Mahira with her bodyguard, Olivier

 

Here’s why…

“Oh man, I fell so badly,” Mahira shared with a beaming smile. “But when I fell, during a recording at Hotel Martinez, I got up and instinctively said, “hit hai!” and then realized that Seher (Mahira’s manager) wasn’t there and my people weren’t there so no one would get this.”

Get what, I asked…

“I do this all the time,” she explained. “From the Humsafar time to date and now it’s become a thing. If Mahira falls then the play or film ‘hit hai!’. I fell during Humsafar, Bin Roye and even that small scene for Actor in Law. I did a cameo and I fell so badly. I was wearing a white Nomi Ansari sari and had a cup of tea in my hands, which went flying when I fell. Wow, what a fall that was. But when I fell and everyone came around me I just said, “hit hai!” and so it was. So when I fell at Cannes, I knew that this trip would be a hit.”

Directors take note. Mahira needs to take a fall for 7 Din Mohabbat In and Maula Jatt too!

Aamna Haider Isani

Editor-in-Chief, The author is a full time writer, critic with a love for words and an intolerance for typos, although she'll make one herself every now and then.