Glued together by mutual passion for entertainment
HARD-working and dynamic are just two ways to describe entrepreneur and show promoter Osman Osman of Blu Blood South Africa.
The 35-year-old, who works alongside his wife of seven years, Shaaista Khan Osman, comes from humble beginnings and says he had scaled many mountains before he could see the top.
“When I was young my parents decided to split up, so my mother uprooted my sister and I and we moved closer to her family in Laudium. It was there that I learnt about the hardships of life.”
He said his mother sold koeksisters and samoosas at weekends and the monies raised were used to provide for them and their schooling.
“Being the eldest and only man in the house, I wanted to help my mother wherever I could.”
After matriculating from Central Islamic School, Osman decided it was time to start his own business and began selling food and drinks at stalls at different bazaars until he opted to promote local shows.
“I started completely on my own. I wanted to do a bazaar festival, so I placed my first advert for the show. Five months before the event, the owner of a local newspaper gave me a 30-day account to pay him off and from the income generated, I paid my expenses.
“I remember, at 17, that a woman approached, asking for my father. She wanted information about a show.
“I cheekily asked why she was looking for him as I was the one putting shows together. She looked at me, and said, ‘Son have you even had your first shave yet?’” he said, laughing.
“Over the years, I began co-ordinating the Laudium Community Bazaars and Zoo Lake Bazaars with a lot of community artists,” Osman explains.
Learning entrepreneurial skills the hard way, he proceeded to open his first company, Four Corners Entertainment.
“Growing up, you always want to make money and you also want to go out with friends and have a party, but I couldn’t. My focus was on my family and providing for them. Over the years, I grew and became buddies with Riaad Moosa and other bigwigs in the entertainment industry. Riaad actually gave me one of my first opportunities in this business.”
He explained: “After numerous conversations from 2007 to 2009, Riaad finally agreed to let me do community-based shows with him. We toured South Africa with small town shows but playing to big audiences.” While Osman continued with his business, he stumbled upon a beautiful woman, Shaaista Khan, in 2010, who also worked as an events co-ordinator.
“We used the same person for all our poster designs. She was also into events but handled more corporate functions as opposed to my local stuff. One day, while I was busy with the designer, she walked in and began putting pressure on him because her show was also around the corner.
“I heard her say she needed entertainment and to impress her I jumped on the bandwagon, telling her I could get someone to perform comedy for free. Although it cost me a little money, it was a wise investment.”
They tied the knot a year later and their career paths would cross again.
“We ran two companies and spent more money branding each company. We helped one another with our events and I realised we were working too much. If it wasn’t my event it was hers, so I decided to dissolve my business and join her.
“Today Blu Blood’s core business is live entertainment and we entertain all over Africa – including Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
“We own the brand the Kings and Queens of Comedy, which is the largest or biggest in South Africa with sold-out shows in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth.”
While Osman and Shaaista, who share a daughter Sarina Elahi, can best be described as a power couple in their field, he says they have the same synergy.
“People always ask how we work together and it’s simple. For us it’s like working with your best friend. When you work together you develop the same wants, goals and dreams and when you are in trouble in your marriage, your wife still has to answer to you in your professional life,” he joked.
Osman, of Eldoraigne, in Pretoria, added that being in the entertainment industry was one of the best decisions he had made.
“When a person comes to a comedy show or Bollywood concert, in that moment they forget the problems and the issues they are facing.”
Some of the stars the couple have brought to South Africa include Atif Aslam, Arjit Singh, Rahat Fateh, Ali Khan, Mika Singh and Sonu Nigam.
Blu Blood is preparing for Moosa’s Life Begins Tour and Tumi Morake and Ndumiso Lindi’s comedy show Married… But Not To Each Other.