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Mahira Khan made an appearance on CNN‘s New Year’s Eve Live, discussing her recent onscreen appearance with Fawad Khan in Neelofar and recounting experiences from her time as a student in California.

The star told host Kristie Lou Stout she did not expect to have two film releases — Neelofar and Love Guru — in a single year and called 2025 “amazing” and “wholesome”.

The conversation soon moved to Fawad and Mahira working together. The actor said, “It‘s a blessing we’ve been given so much love and respect and adoration together.” She lamented being stingy towards fans when “people want to see us together”. Neelofar, she said, was an attempt to counter that, “almost a thank you note” to fans.

The star said she and Fawad were “very respectful of each other‘s spaces and crafts”. She said she was very spontaneous as a performer compared to Fawad, who had a different style. The pair “understand each other’s beats really really well,” which comes from experience, but also friendship.

Fawad and Mahira shared the screen in Humsafar (2011), one of Pakistan‘s most popular dramas. They’ve also appeared in The Legend of Maula Jutt, one of the biggest box office hits ever in Pakistan.

When asked if they have any more upcoming projects together, Mahira laughed and told the host “there is a while for that”. She said they both need something “out of the box” to work on together, something like Bonnie and Clyde or Marriage Story.

The actor said 2026 felt like “one of those points where I have to take stock of my life, my career, everything”. She said she was coming back to television this year, which is a little scary, albeit in an exciting way.

Mahira also discussed her student years in the United States. The actor studied in California and chuckled when Stout asked her about her time working at Brookstone — a retail store.

The actor said the change in scenery for a girl from a well-off Pakistani family living the American life — working two jobs while attending college and supporting her brother — had “a deep impact” on who she is as a person.

Mahira said she goes back every summer with her son and tells him all the stories from her time studying, riding buses and working at a retail chain and a pharmacy.