If there is one thing we know about actor Sanjay Dutt is that he is very particular about not wanting the women from his family to ever enter Bollywood. One of his most famous quotes is: “I am not encouraging my daughter to do films at all. It never happens with the Dutts.

My sisters or my niece could have been in the movies too, but that is not the way my father raised us.” Yet we now hear his niece, Nazia Hussain, is already taking a few steps towards establishing herself as an actress in the industry.

She grew up watching Sanjay on screen, but says she wants to make it on her own in Bollywood. “Sanju chachu is someone whom I have grown up watching on screen. We both come from the same background, but my relation with him doesn’t really help as I am trying to make my mark in Bollywood on my own.”

The young actress however has not asked or received any advice from her famous uncle. “No, he is a very busy man. I have always been very shy around him. I would be petrified if he saw my film. When he joined the industry, his dad was a big name but he struggled to become successful. I too want to grow by myself. I too have travelled on local trains and autos to give my auditions.”

Nazia is somehow relieved that she won’t feel the pressure because of a famous last name. “I am a Hussain and not a Dutt! If I had been a Dutt, there would have been more pressure on me.” Nazia comes from a filmi background herself as her grandfather Akhtar Hussain was a filmmaker.

She wants to carve a niche for herself and make her family proud. “I need to live up to my family’s name and do some good work. It does make a few heads turn when people come to know that I am Sanjay Dutt’s niece. But I have to struggle and carve a niche for myself.”