Did you know that some Pakistani artists in Hollywood have more than made their mark the world over?
While there’s plenty of talk about Pakistani actors that work across the border or Bollywood divas that were cast in Hollywood, what about Pakistanis? Â Turns out there are a lot of them than we knew. There has been a lot of Pakistani singers in Hollywood. Same goes for Pakistani actors in Hollywood as well.
So without much further ado, here are some Pakistani artists who have worked in Hollywood.
Pakistani Artists in Hollywood List
Contents
1. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in Hollywood
The musical genius was a producer not just a Qawwal (Qawwali singer). While people are aware many of his compositions were adapted for Bollywood movies, the musical maestro also produced for Hollywood. His widespread fame resulted in sold out shows in famous venues in Paris, Japan, New York, Washington. etc.
Nusrat also collaborated with Peter Gabriel, Michael Brooke and Eddie Vedder to name a few. Fateh’s tracks can be heard on the soundtracks of movies such as Dead Man Walking, Natural Born Killers, Any Given Sunday and many others.
2. Strings, Spiderman 2 OST
Both Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia got their big Hollywood break with Spiderman 2.
Najanay Kyun was included as part of the Spiderman 2 original soundtrack.
3. Farhan Tahir, Iron Man
This Los Angeles, California native comes from a family of actors.
Farhan Tahir has a number of impressive roles under his belt from The Jungle Book, Picture Perfect, A Price Above Rubies, Anywhere But Here, ABCD, A Town Without Pity, Manticore, Charlie Wilson’s War, Iron Man, Star Trek, Ashes, Elysium, Torn, Escape Plan, Mr. Jones and Jinn.
4. Meesha Shafi, The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Meesha Shafi starred in the film The Reluctant Fundamentalist. The movie, which is based on the book by Mohsin Hamid, features stars such as Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber, Shabana Azmi and Om Puri. We’re looking forward to seeing her vocals make a Hollywood debut too.
5. Atif Aslam, Hollywood Movie Song
Atif Aslam has been one of Bollywood favorite singers for a while now but not many people know he lent his voice to Hollywood too.
He has three songs in the soundtrack of an American indie movie Man Push Cart.
6. Mahnoor Baloch, Hollywood Movie Debut
This elfin, evergreen beauty was cast in the American indie movie Torn.
For Mahnoor Baloch, her Hollywood movie debut happened opposite Farhan Tahir, another Pakistani who made it big there.
7. Kamran Pasha, Nikita
Pasha is a famous Hollywood screenwriter, director and novelist. He co-produced and wrote the script for Sleeper Cell.
His other works include the CW series Nikita, Disney’s animated Tron Uprising. He also rewrote the screenplay for The Immaculate.
8. Ayad Akhtar, American Dervish
This Pakistani-American is multi-talented. He writes and acts as well.
His writing works include Disgraced, The Invisible Hand and The Who and The What. His made his debut as a novelist with American Dervish back in 2012.
9. Syma Chowdhry, News Reporter
Syma Chowdhry is Pakistani-Indian-American. This woman is an award-winning host, reporter, producer, news writer, model and actress, and currently a news reporter in Philadelphia.
She also tried her hand at pageants and was the 1st runner up for Miss Pennsylvania.
10. Kamran Rashid, The Real 8 Mile
The Detroit rapper that’s Pakistani-American is featured in the  documentary, The Real 8 Mile. The documentary focused on how the rapper manages and balances his life as a hip hop artist and as a medical student.
11. Ajmal Zaheer Ahmed, Exxodus Pictures
This Pakistani film-maker is the co-founder and current CEO of Detroit based production company Exxodus Pictures. His production house has made Perfect Mismatch and Jinn.
12. Adnan Siddique, A Mighty Heart
Adnan has shared the big screen with Angelina Jolie. He played a supporting character in Jolie and Irfan Khan’s A Mighty Heart.
13. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony
Taking after his uncle the great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khanm Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is the first Pakistani musician invited to perform at the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.
14. Tahir Shah, Eye to Eye
Some people are famous for the wrong reasons. Tahir Shah is one such example. The singer is rumored to debut in his Hollywood movie ‘Eye to Eye’.
15. Iqbal Theba, Glee
This Pakistani-American is famous for his recurring role as Principal Figgins in Glee.  He’s worked with big names like Gwyneth Paltrow, Ricky Martin, Kate Hudson and Sara Jessica Parker among others.
16. Dilshad Vadsaria, Greek
This Pakistani born actress is best known for her role as the tough yet insecure sorority queen Rebecca Logan on the ABC Family TV show Greek.
She also had cameos on NCIS, Revenge, NCIS: Los Angeles and Bones. She also appeared in the movie 30 seconds or Less.
17. Art Malik, The Crown Jewel
Art Malik plays Hari Kumar in the British television series The Crown Jewel. The Pakistani born British actor is a veteran from the 1980’s, playing a number of roles in British and Merchant-Ivory television serials and films.
He also played the antagonist in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s True Lies.
18. Yousaf Bashir Qureshi, Designer and Stylist
The Pakistani designer has styled Hollywood’s beauties such as Angelina Jolie, Sheryl Crow, as well as hunks such as Denzel Washington among many others.
19. Sajid Hassan, A Mighty Heart
This Pakistani actor went from theater to television and finally Hollywood. He too had a role in Angelina Jolie-starrer A Mighty Heart.
20. Gabe Grey, The Haircut
The Karachite’s legal name is Syed Fuad Ahmed. He is known for films such as The Haircut, One Last Shot, and Bomb Girls: Facing the Enemy.
21. Saad Siddiqui, Inescapable
This actor was originally a sportsman. He’s a three time Maryland State Champion in Tae Kwon Do and a silver medalist at the Junior Olympics. He was cast in Inescapable in 2012.
22. Umar Khan, Captain America: Civil War
This Lahore-born actor can be seen in movies such as Deliver Us From Evil, Captain America: Civil War, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, District Voices.
23. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, A Girl in the River
This Oscar and Emmy winning Pakistani film-maker needs no introduction. Her film A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness lead to the Pakistani government’s decision to curb honor killings via the Women Protection Bill.
24. Mir Zafar Ali, Frozen
This Pakistani visual effects specialist didn’t receive the recognition he deserved till he was awarded an Academy Award for his work in Frozen.
Before that he worked on a number of special effect masterpieces such as The Golden Compass, Spiderman 3, X Men: First Class and Life of Pi to name a few.
25. Kumail Nanjiani, Silicon Valley
One of the most well-known entries from among this list, Kumail has featured in hit sitcom Silicon Valley as well as the film The Big Sick. He also plays Prismo in animated series Adventure Time.
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I am in Toronto Canada.My ambition is to take part as an actor in a Hollywood Movie.How can I go about it and land a part in a Hollywood movie or a serial on a TV. Need an advice.Thanks to who so ever.
MS Ummara Sheraz, really thankful to you for good information.
Rizwan Ahmed?
what about zayn malik ? he’s also a pakistani british singer.