Mom puts foot down on daughter’s love

By Clayton Morar

WHAT’S there to do when your daughter is in love with a businessman you just don't see eye-to-eye with? That's easy for Sumita Narain, played by legendary local actress Usha Khan, who knows just how to get what she wants when it comes to her daughter's love life. It may even come at any price, but how is she going to put her plan in action?

Just this past week, viewers saw Khan's character in the popular e.tv soapie Scandal come to town to stop her daughter, Nadia (Sorisha Naidoo), from seeing one of the most powerful men in town – Daniel Nyathi (played by Sello Maake ka Ncube of Generations fame)

As from this coming week, Sumita will continue her campaign to drive a rift between Daniel and Nadia.

Khan, 71, said Sumita regarded Daniel as an unsuitable partner for Nadia. "He's much older, he's married, he's black, and he has a bad reputation.

“The glamorous, authoritarian head of a rival publishing empire has been overseas for a while. Now that she's back, she plans to put her daughter's life back on track – with some attempted matchmaking."

Explains Khan: “Sumita married Nadia's father for love, but they divorced as a result of his messing around and hurting her hugely. She refused the man her parents picked for her. He went on to marry a friend of hers, and has turned out to be the most fantastic husband. Sumita doesn't want her daughter to make the same mistake."

Who does Sumita see fit for her daughter? "Sumita wants Nadia to date an old school friend, Kamlesh, who is Indian.”

Khan, who has enjoyed starring roles in City Ses'la, Mthinzini.com, Home Affairs, and Thetha Msawawa before Scandal, says despite Sumita's pushiness with her daughter, she does relate to the character.

"I think I'm as headstrong as Sumita. A very striking difference between us is the way she dresses – I'm more of a sari person. She's also a mother and I'm not but when you've been a teacher for as long as I was, you get the hang of motherhood when you have to deal with up to 50 kids a day!"

Scandal has been very different to any role she'd taken on before in her acting career.

"In most of my previous roles, I've always had dress sense and hairdos similar to my character. My whole look was changed this time around, which also changed my entire attitude toward my character.”

In her spare time, Khan writes poetry and has had pieces published in various anthologies.

She is currently working on her own anthology of poems and is also writing a book.

With Sumita fast becoming determined enough to seek a husband for her beloved Nadia, will she stop at nothing to ensure Nadia obeys her wish?

"She wants Nadia to marry someone from the same culture and will do anything to make that happen.

“See how she lets this come across in a very subtle, strong and confident way and how she'll convince Nadia to have things her way," says Khan

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