Did you know Afghani woman in Pathaan is actually Aamir Khan’s sister Nikhat?

While everyone is going crazy about Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan reuniting back on the big screen with Pathaan, not many know that the actor’s latest release also features a connection back to Aamir Khan. Nikhat Khan Hegde, who is Aamir’s older sister, shares a special scene in Pathaan with Shah Rukh. (Also read: Breaking down the highs and lows of Pathaan: From refreshing, gentle patriotism to underutilized Deepika Padukone)

She acknowledged fans who singled out her performance in the film, by sharing their reactions on her Instagram Stories. In one, a fan commented, “Soo amazing mam (red heart emojis), @nikhat3628 My favourites in one frames.” While another Instagram user wrote, “Hamari Nikhat (Our Nikhat) @nikhat3628 #Pathaan.”

Spoilers ahead for Pathaan

The scenes shared in the Stories shows that she plays an Afghan woman who blesses Shah Rukh’s character when he rescues their village during his first mission in the action film. Her character tells him that he will always remain one of them, thus giving the origin of his nickname and the title of the film.

Nikhat has been a producer on films like Tum Mere Ho (1990), Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993), Madhosh (1994), and Lagaan (2001). She has also acted in the feature films Mission Mangal (2019), Saand Ki Aankh (2019) and Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (2020) as Saif Ali Khan’s mother. She was also part of the web series, Special Ops 1.5: The Himmat Story, Guilty Minds and Hush Hush.

Directed by Siddharth Anand, Pathaan also stars Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia and Ashutosh Rana. Written by Shridhar Raghavan and Abbas Tyrewala, the thriller links back to the Salman-starrers Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) as well as the Hrithik Roshan-starrer War (2019) in Yash Raj Films’ Spy Universe. Pathaan has already earned ₹57 crore on opening day, January 25, and is expected to bring record numbers going into this extended holiday weekend.

Shah Rukh’s last film as a lead hero was with Aanand L Ra’s Zero (2018) opposite Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif. Last year, he was seen in special appearances in Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, and Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva. He also had a cameo as himself in the Aamir Khan-starrer Laal Singh Chaddha. The film was a remake of the 1994 Oscar winner Forrest Gump starring Tom Hanks.