United Kingdom is home to diverse communities. However, not all communities have made it big when it comes to representation in the media.
But slowly but surely, Pakistani-British actors and actresses have been making their mark in British media. In fact, some of them have even become household names in Hollywood.
We take a look at some of the biggest British Pakistani actors and actresses who have made us proud to be desis.
British Pakistani Actors & Actresses Who Rule
Contents
1. Art Malik
This Pakistani born actor was raised in London. Art Malik is best known for the role of Hari Kumar in the series The Jewel in the Crown (1982). The series really put the spotlight that comes with having a multicultural identity.
He was then cast in Indian Summers Season 2 that was aired on Channel 4 back in 2010. He played the Maharaja, a key role in the serial.
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Then went on to play Zubin Khan in Holby City a BBC series that ran between 2003-2005.
“I jumped at the chance. It’s a great show. It goes out at 8 o’clock, and is probably the last drama of the day when you can get a cross-generational family in front of the telly. And guess what, it’s about as multiracial as you can get. Why wouldn’t I want to do that?”
He also played the Pakistani general, Bunran ‘Bunny’ Latif in Homeland (2014).
Art Malik TV Shows
- Homeland
- Holby City
- Indian Summers
- The Jewel in the Crown
Art Malik Net Worth: USD $13 Million
2. Riz Ahmed
Riz Ahmed is a talented British-Pakistani actor, activist and rapper. The award-winning actor started off as Michael Winterbottom in The Road to Guantanamo (2006). Recently the actor played the antagonist in the Marvel film on the anti-villain Venom (2018).
He starred as Omar in the award winning film Four Lions (2010).
Riz made it big in Hollywood with the role of Bodhi Rook, in the Stars Wars prequel Rogue One (2016).
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The actor also tried film-making with Daytimer (2014), a short film about a Pakistani boy balancing his two identities.
Riz Ahmed (IMDB) then starred in the award winning series The Night Of (2016). That’s when he became the first British-Pakistani to win an Emmy award.
Riz Ahmed Films
- Venom
- Star Wars Rogue One
- The Road to Guantanamo
Riz Ahmed Net Worth: USD $ 3 Million
3. Noreen Khan
The BBC presenter that we’ve been watching since 2007, is known for her jolly personality.
Noreen Khan also dabbles in stand-up comedy. Her humor revolves around her Desi background, and that in turn allows her to come up with anecdotal stories and cultural jokes.
4. Alyy Khan
Alyy Khan is also a Pakistani born actor raised in England. He’s starred in a range of projects from A Mighty Heart (2007) as Sheikh Omar to as JK Diwan alongside Shahrukh Khan in Don 2.
He too starred in Indian Summers as Ramu Sood. Other television works include The Bill.
5. Adil Ray
Birmingham born Adil Ray is known for his role in BBC’s Citizen Khan. He started off in radio, moving on to television with Desi DNA (2003)
6. Mehreen Baig
The British-Pakistani blogger was featured on the BBC a couple times. She was featured in the BAFTA TV award winning, BBC documentary Muslims like us.
She also presented Lost Boys? What’s going wrong for Asian Men (BBC: 2018).
“Sugar coating problems and an inability to acknowledge real issues in the community is not doing the community any favors.”
7. Abdullah Afzal
Manchester born Abdullah Afzal has played Asif Khan in Lunch Monkeys. He also played the role of Amjad Malik in the acclaimed Citizen Khan.
“I did my drama exam. I got full marks in my performances. It’s a confidence boost and makes you think you can do something like that for a career. I googled like crazy for acting jobs. That’s how I started.”
8. Mobeen Khan (Guz Khan)
The teacher-turned-YouTuber was found through his YouTube channel Pakisaurus (2015).
Through his working-class character, Mobeen he covered issues through satire. As of July, 2015 he’s a full time comedian. His skit Roadman Ramadan aired on BBC.
He performed at BBC Asian Network’s comedy night in the same year. He used his character Mobeen to explores the daily hardships of a British Pakistani.
9. Shazia Mirza
Another entertainer with an education background. Shazia Mirza was a science teacher that turned to comedy.
Now she’s a writer, presenter and comedian. She presented the documentary F*** off I’m a Hairy Woman on BBC. She uses satire to touch on the country’s political climate and social issues.
Shazia is also a columnist for The Guardian and The New Statesmen.
10. Humza Arshad
Humza Arshad or the YouTuber Badman Diary of a Badman. Much like Mobeen, Badman covers multicultural issues with comedy.
“I think people can appreciate the humor and there is a message behind it, a moral behind it, it’s not entertainment, there’s an extra added value.”
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via Desi Blitz
