Yasir Hussain is not opposed to raising a dozen kids

Express Tribune

02-06-2025

During an interview with Tabish Hashmi, Yasir Hussain had a thing or two to say about large families, starting with his own experience of being raised with 11 older siblings.
The actor, who recently returned to theatre, began by joking about his father's army of 12 children: "If my father worked in theatre, the audience would be our own."
Confirming that he's the youngest of the 12 siblings, Yasir refuted the common belief that he would have double the amount of nephews and nieces, quipping that not everyone is as ambitious as his father was.
Despite the wisecracks, the Badshah Begum actor doesn't see a problem with a large household. "There are no issues. I, myself, am fond of children. And I've spent a great childhood with my siblings, even though we lived in a one-bathroom home," he revealed.
Yasir jested that in such an environment, one's natural cycles adjust on their own, adding that the body times itself according to whose turn it is to relieve themselves.
He believes that even in current times, it is possible to raise as many as 12 kids if families wish to brave that step. "They can definitely do it. I've seen people who've done it very well," he noted.
The Karachi Se Lahore actor added that having many children doesn't impede each child's upbringing. "It's important to take out time for your kids," he said. "Even if you have two kids, you do make time for them, don't you? It's necessary to do that."
Although he's not opposed to the idea of fathering an abundance of children, Yasir has only one son - Kabir - with wife Iqra Aziz. From Yasir championing time and attention to Iqra discouraging abuse, it is clear that Kabir is being raised in a loving environment and one that prioritises tradition.
In a March interview, the couple shared that they prefer to teach their son Urdu first and foremost, keeping all other languages secondary.
"Once an actor pointed out to me that Kabir speaks in Urdu, so I mentioned that that's the language we speak at home. So they said, 'Teach him English. Don't make this mistake. He will learn Urdu at some point eventually,'" Yasir recalled.
"Urdu is more important; I've seen a lot of people who can't speak it properly. It's important to build that habit, then your child may learn English or Punjabi or any other language later on," he added.