Shabana Bakhsh

Scottish actress

Shabana Akhtar Bakhsh (born 9 November 1981 in Glasgow) is a Scottish actress of Pakistani descent who has appeared in soap operas such as River City and Doctors . Her best known role is in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road starring as English teacher Jasmine Koreshi.

Biography

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Shabana Akhtar Bakhsh made her acting debut in River City as Zara Malik, who moved to Aberdeen.^[1] Her parents are of Pakistani origin. She went on to appear in Ken Loach's Ae Fond Kiss .^[2]^[3] She then became a regular in Doctors as Tasha Verma.^[4] She appeared in the BBC One school-based drama series, Waterloo Road , as newly qualified English teacher Jasmine Koreshi. She currently lives in Glasgow. In 2009 travelled around Scottish schools with TAG theatre company in the production "Yellow Moon", a play by David Greig, where she plays the character Silent Leila.

She has been an outspoken critic of the BBC, saying that they are afraid to write for ethnic minorities.^[1] She has also campaigned for women's rights in the Asian community.^{[citation needed ]}

Filmography

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Film

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Year	Title	Role
2004	Ae Fond Kiss...	Tahara Khan
2011	Perfect Sense	Nurse
2014	Honeycomb Lodge	Azra
2018	Super November	Mona

Television

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Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002–2003	River City	Zara Malik	3 episodes
2004	The Afternoon Play	Yasmeela Khan	1 episode, "Glasgow Dreams"
2004–2005	Doctors	Tasha Verma	Series regular
2005	Taggart	Layla	1 episode, "Cause to Kill"
2007-2009	Waterloo Road	Jasmine Koreshi	Series regular
2017	The Replacement	Interview Panel	1 episode

References

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^ ^a ^b Taylor, Joanna (3 January 2004). "BBC attacked over Asian plotlines; River City soap star criticises Beeb scriptwriters". The Stage. p. 3.
^ Miller, Phil (21 November 2003). "BBC 'scared of Asian actors';Attack on attitudes to River City cast". The Herald.
^ Schofield, Kevin (16 November 2007). "Celebrities present the awards". The Herald.
^ "Class warfare leaves TV teacher Shabana Bakhsh in a fury". Daily Record . (Reach plc). 22 February 2009. Archived from the original on 31 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.