Pakistani · Actor Profile

Mahira Khan

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By Inaya Rizvi, Drama & Film Critic·Updated October 22, 2026

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Mahira Khan has been the face of Pakistani entertainment for most of the last fifteen years. Humsafar made her a household name in 2011, she is in all three of the highest-grossing Pakistani films ever made, and in 2026 she did something few leading women in Pakistan would risk: she came back to television as a villain, in Green Entertainment's record-breaking Mitti De Baway.

Her personal life is in the news this year too. In September 2026 she announced she is expecting her second child, her first with her husband Salim Karim. Here's her story, every drama and film, and the roles that matter most.

Mahira Khan's age and early life

Mahira Hafeez Khan was born on 21 December 1984 in Karachi. She went to school at Karachi's Foundation Public School and, at around 17, moved to California, where she studied at Santa Monica College and then started a degree in English literature at the University of Southern California. She left after a year to pursue acting, and has talked about working as a cashier at a Rite Aid store to support herself while she studied.

Her way into television was music TV. In 2006 she became a VJ on MTV Pakistan, hosting a live show called Most Wanted, and in 2008 she hosted Weekends with Mahira on AAG TV. Five years after that first job, she was the biggest new star in the country.

Mahira Khan's husband, son and pregnancy

Mahira married Salim Karim, a businessman, in October 2023, in a small ceremony in Bhurban. The couple had been together for several years before the wedding. In September 2026, around her appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival, she announced that they are expecting their first child together, sharing a photo with the caption "We make plans, and then there is ALLAH'S plan."

She was married before, to Ali Askari, from 2007 until their divorce in 2015. They have a son, Azlan, who is now 17. She has described the end of her first marriage as two people who married young and grew apart, rather than an acrimonious split.

Mahira Khan dramas: the complete list

For all her fame, Mahira has made relatively few dramas, and she has often gone years between them.

She also had a cameo in Geo's Main Manto (2017) and in the Zee5 web series Churails (2020), and in 2022 she produced the web series Baarwan Khiladi through her own company, Soul Fry Films.

Mahira Khan movies

Three of those films are the three biggest Pakistani box office hits of all time: The Legend of Maula Jatt (2022), Aag Lagay Basti Mein (2026) and Love Guru (2025), her Eid romantic comedy with Humayun Saeed, which made around Rs 80 crore worldwide. Neelofar, opposite Fawad Khan, had a much rougher road: shot in 2020, it was delayed for years before finally reaching cinemas in November 2025, with Mahira playing a woman who is visually impaired.

Her one Hindi film is Raees (2017), opposite Shah Rukh Khan. It was a hit, but political tensions between India and Pakistan meant she couldn't promote it in India, and Pakistani actors have been largely shut out of Indian films since.

Mahira Khan and Wahaj Ali: Mitti De Baway

If you've searched for "Mahira Khan Wahaj Ali drama", it's Mitti De Baway, a Punjabi period drama on Green Entertainment that began in September 2026. Mahira plays Billo, a powerful woman who claims to have found God and left her past behind, opposite Wahaj Ali's Bala, the musician she once loved. It's her first real villain, and it has become one of the fastest-growing Pakistani dramas on YouTube, reported to have crossed 200 million views in six episodes. Our episode-by-episode guide is updated every week.

Where to start with Mahira Khan

1. Humsafar (2011, Hum TV). The drama that made her. Her Khirad, opposite Fawad Khan, is the role most people still picture when they hear her name, and it won her a Lux Style Award for Best Television Actress.
2. Sadqay Tumhare (2014, Hum TV). Her performance as Shano won her a Hum Award for Best Actress.
3. Mitti De Baway (2026, Green Entertainment). The most interesting thing she's done in years: Mahira, so often cast as the woman you root for, playing menace with a smile.
4. The Legend of Maula Jatt (2022). Not her film so much as Fawad Khan's and Hamza Ali Abbasi's, but her spirited Mukkho is part of why it became Pakistan's biggest box office hit.
5. Bol (2011). Her film debut, in Shoaib Mansoor's hard-hitting family drama, and proof from the start that she wanted more than glamour roles.

What's next for Mahira Khan

• Mitti De Baway is on air now, every Wednesday and Thursday on Green Entertainment.
• Jo Bachay Hain Sang Samait Lo, Netflix's long-delayed first Pakistani original, adapted from Farhat Ishtiaq's novel, with Mahira in the ensemble alongside Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed. It still has no release date.

Beyond acting

• Appointed UNHCR's National Goodwill Ambassador in Pakistan in 2019, for her work with Afghan refugees.
• Honoured at the UK Parliament on 6 November 2024 for her contribution to cinema and to women's empowerment.
• Founded the production company Soul Fry Films in 2021.
• Winner of multiple Lux Style Awards and Hum Awards across television and film.

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