Preeya Kalidas | |
|---|---|
 Kalidas at The Asian Awards in 2014 | |
| Born | 21 June 1980 |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1996–present |
| Partner(s) | Marc Elliott (2008–present) |
Preeya Kalidas (born 21 June 1980) [1] is an English singer and actress. She played Amira Masood in the soap opera EastEnders , from 2009 to 2012. She released the single "Shimmy" in July 2010, taken from her proposed debut album (I'm Over It) Constant Craving; however, the album was never released.
Preeya Kalidas was born to Indian Gujarati parents in Isleworth, [1] and was raised in Twickenham, South-West London. [2] Her father is an independent financial adviser, and her mother works for British Airways. [3] She started ballet classes at the age of three, and tap at five. She then trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London. [4] She also trained at Songtime Theatre Arts. [5]
Kalidas first appeared on screen in the drama Googleyes. She went on to play Usha in a short film called Jump Boy in 1998, directed by Menhaj Huda and written by Harsha Patel. After a number of parts in films and on television, including East is East , Bollywood Queen, My Family and Casualty , in 2002 she appeared as Monica in Gurinder Chadha's film Bend It Like Beckham . She then played the female lead Priya in the Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced show Bombay Dreams , written by A.R. Rahman, Meera Syal and Don Black. [6] She also appeared in the BBC Television series Bodies as Dr. Maya Dutta.
In 2007, Kalidas landed the female lead in a West End revival of Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat . Appearing as the narrator, she performed with Lee Mead, who won the title role of Joseph in BBC One's Any Dream Will Do talent search series. [7] [8] The same year, she appeared in the multi-award-winning Channel 4 miniseries Britz . In 2009, Kalidas appeared in the second series of BBC One's Mistresses , and joined EastEnders in April of that year as Amira Shah, the girlfriend, and later wife of Syed Masood. [9] In January 2010, she decided to quit EastEnders to pursue a pop career. Her final episode was broadcast on 26 April 2010. In July 2011, Kalidas revealed that she would be returning to EastEnders in the latter part of 2011. [10] Kalidas, then left the show in March 2012. In September 2012, it was announced that Kalidas was returning to EastEnders briefly to conclude with the departures of Marc Elliott and John Partridge who play Syed Masood and Christian Clarke respectively.
Kalidas appeared in Hotel Babylon as Aisha Chaudhri, the daughter of a rich Indian hotel owner. She also appeared in the music video "Love Is Blind" by Ramzi featuring Ash King. In December 2009, she played the part of Leanne in ITV comedy drama Mister Eleven . She starred in the 2010 Chris Morris feature film Four Lions playing Sofia, the wife of protagonist Omar (played by Riz Ahmed). The film was released on 7 May.
After leaving EastEnders , Kalidas began to pursue a career in music, signing a record deal with Universal Records. Her second single, "Shimmy", featuring Mumzy Stranger, was released on 26 July 2010. Kalidas appeared on several programmes including the National Lottery Results and Loose Women in promotion of the single. [11] The single received mixed reviews. [12] Ruth Harrison from FemaleFirst stated that she "liked the single" but was not keen on the genre of music. [13]
Kalidas stated in an interview with Digital Spy that her album would consist of a variety of genres. [14] She also confirmed that the album would include collaborations with Bashy, Skepta, Schorcer, Ramzi and Mumzy Stranger. [15] Kalidas' collaboration with Skepta, "Cross My Heart", was released in October 2010 as the lead single from Skepta's second studio album, Doin' It Again , however, at the time of release, Kalidas firmly stated its inclusion on her debut album. [16]
In 2011, it was announced that due to poor sales of "Shimmy", Kalidas would no longer be releasing an album with Universal Records. In the same month Kalidas was awarded the Best Female Act award at the UK Asian Music Awards, where she performed a new song, "I Like You", alongside "Shimmy" and her collaboration with Skepta, "Cross My Heart". [17] In July 2011, Kalidas signed a new record deal with All Around The World. In September 2011, Kalidas' second single, "It's A Problem", premiered on YouTube. The single features vocals from rapper Scorcher, who had previously been rumoured to appear on the album. [18] The music video for "It's A Problem" premiered on 3 October 2011. The digital package of the single was released on 10 October, containing "I Like You", as well as a further new song, "Dirty Kissin'". Kalidas announced the album's third single, "A Woman Scorn" during an interview on Lorraine in November 2011. However it was never released. In June 2012, Kalidas eventually released her third single titled; "Love Between Us" which featured British producer, DaVinChe, on backing vocals.
In March 2014, Kalidas released the single "Don't Give Up" was working towards release of her debut studio album in 2015. In April 2014 she released a new single called "Can't Live Without You". Both singles will appear on the album. She has also covered a variety of tracks including Beyoncé's track "Blue".
In June 2015, Kalidas began playing the role of Pinky, in the new West End musical Bend It Like Beckham . She previously played the role of Monica in the film version. In 2019, it was announced that she would play the role of Miss Hedge in the hit musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie from 19 November. [19] [20]
In 2018, Kalidas co-hosted the Brit Asia TV Music Awards with Apache Indian. [21]
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | |||
| 2002 | "Shakalaka Baby" | 38 | Bombay Dreams OST |
| 2010 | "Shimmy"(featuring Mumzy Stranger) | 85 | Constant Craving |
| 2011 | "It's a Problem"(featuring Scorcher) | – | |
| 2012 | "Love Between Us" | 197 |
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | |||
| 2010 | "Fantasy" (Bashy featuring Preeya Kalidas) | 88 | The Great Escape |
| "Cross My Heart" (Skepta featuring Preeya Kalidas) | 31 | Doin' It Again | |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Doctors | Safiya Ranjit | |
| 2001 | Metrosexuality | Flora | |
| 2001 | The Bill | Nadia | |
| 2001 | My Family | Miranda | |
| 2001 | Casualty | Sherilyn Tilson | |
| 2003 | Bedtime | Mumtaz | |
| 2004 | England Expects | Assma | |
| 2004 | Bodies | Maya Dutta | |
| 2005 | Broken News | Anita Ratchathani | |
| 2006 | Green Wing | Newsagent | |
| 2007 | Britz | Shaz | |
| 2009 | Mistresses | Carrie | |
| 2009 | Hotel Babylon | Aisha Chaudhri | |
| 2009 | Mister Eleven | Leanne | |
| 2009–2012 | EastEnders | Amira Masood | Regular role |
| 2013 | Bollywood Carmen Live | Carmen | |
| 2014 | Casualty | Sonja Egan | |
| 2016 | New Blood | Lucy |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Virtual Sexuality | Charlotte | |
| 1999 | East Is East | Nazir's Bride | |
| 2002 | Bend It Like Beckham | Monica | |
| 2003 | Bollywood Queen | Geena | |
| 2004 | Bombay Dreams | Priya | |
| 2010 | It's a Wonderful Afterlife | Karishma | |
| 2010 | Four Lions | Sofia |
| Awards | Year | Category | Result | Production | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Soap Awards | 2010 | Sexiest Female | Nominated | EastEnders | Amira Masood |
| 2012 | Sexiest Female | Shortlisted | |||
| Inside Soap Awards | 2009 | Best Family (for Masood family) | Longlisted | ||
| 2010 | Best Wedding (with Marc Elliott) | Won | |||
| All About Soap Awards | 2010 | Bride and Doom | Nominated |
| Year | Awards | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | UK Asian Music Awards [22] | Best Female Act | Won |
| Brit Asia TV Music Awards [23] | Best Female Act | Won | |
| 2012 | UK Asian Music Awards [24] | Best Female Act | Won |
| Year | Awards | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Laurence Olivier Award [25] | Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical | Bend It Like Beckham | Nominated |
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly; their first collaboration, The Likes of Us, written in 1965, was not performed until 2005. Its family-friendly retelling of Joseph, familiar themes, and catchy music have resulted in numerous stagings. According to the owner of the copyright, the Really Useful Group, by 2008 more than 20,000 schools and amateur theatre groups had staged productions.
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anupam Kher, Juliet Stevenson, Shaznay Lewis and Archie Panjabi. In Bend It Like Beckham, Jesminder Bhamra (Nagra) and Jules Paxton (Knightley) chase careers in professional football despite their parents' wishes.
Gareth Paul Gates is an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show Pop Idol in 2002. As of 2008, Gates had sold over 3.5 million records in the UK. He is also known for having a stutter, and has talked about his speech impediment publicly.
Steven Kapur, known by the stage name Apache Indian, is a British singer-songwriter and reggae DJ. He had a series of hits during the 1990s. He is best known in the UK for the song "Boom Shack-A-Lak", which reached the top ten during August 1993.
Zainab Khan is a character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nina Wadia. She made her first appearance on 16 July 2007. Zainab is the mother of Syed, Shabnam, Tamwar and Kamil Masood. She is the wife of Masood Ahmed, who divorces her, and of Yusef Khan, who she remarries after a divorce decades earlier, and who abuses her. Wadia quit her role in 2012 and departed the series in the episode shown on 8 February 2013.
Lee Stephen Mead is an English musical theatre, television actor and occasional singer, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through the BBC TV casting show Any Dream Will Do. As well as subsequent West End roles in Wicked, Legally Blonde: The Musical and The West End Men, Mead has pursued a music career, releasing four solo albums and undertaking concert tours in the UK and Japan.
Gurinder Kaur Kainth, popularly known by her stage name Miss Pooja is an Indian singer and actress who primarily sings Punjabi songs in Bhangra, Pop and Folk genres.
Syed Masood is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Marc Elliott, and first appeared on screen on 21 April 2009. Syed is a British Pakistani and is the eldest son of Masood Ahmed and Zainab Masood, and older brother of Tamwar, Shabnam and Kamil Masood. Syed's storylines see him fall in love with a man, Christian Clarke, and his eventual acceptance that he is gay. Syed initially marries his girlfriend Amira Shah but later comes out, and enters a relationship with Christian, despite the pressures of his family and his Muslim faith.
Amira Masood is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Preeya Kalidas. The girlfriend, and later wife, of Syed Masood, Amira first appeared on screen in the episode broadcast on 7 May 2009. The character was described as high maintenance, lonely and insecure. Amira and Syed's wedding on 1 January 2010 was watched by an average of 11.64 million viewers. Kalidas quit the show in January 2010 to concentrate on a career in music, filming her final scenes in March 2010. Her final episode was broadcast on 26 April 2010, after Amira discovered that her husband was gay and had been having an affair with Christian Clarke. She returned on EastEnders on 10 October 2011, but appeared in two extra scenes available on BBC Online and BBC Red Button called Amira's Secret, on 6 and 8 September 2011. The character departed on 8 March 2012. On 11 September 2012, it was confirmed that Kalidas would return to play Amira once more in a brief guest appearance, in the buildup to the permanent departure of Syed and Christian from the show. She returned on 6 November 2012, and departed once more on 12 November 2012.
"Shimmy" is a song by Swedish singer Janet Leon from her debut solo album Janet and features vocals from rapper Tha Will. It was later covered by British singer, Preeya Kalidas. It was released as a single on July 26, 2010 by Kalidas via digital download. The song features British rapper, Mumzy Stranger. The song was picked to be the lead single from Kalidas's first studio album, Constant Cravings. The single proved to be a disappointment for Kalidas' record label Mercury, debuting at #85 on the UK Singles Chart and staying inside the Top 100 for one week.
Imran Khan is a Dutch-Pakistani singer, songwriter, and rapper. He performs songs in both English and Punjabi. He first became known in 2007 after the release of his first single "Ni Nachleh", and was signed to Prestige Records later that year. His second single, "Amplifier", was released in 2009. His debut studio album, Unforgettable, was released on 27 July 2009 via Prestige Records. His song "Satisfya", released in 2013, is his most-viewed YouTube video with over 905 million views.
Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr., known professionally as Skepta, is a British grime MC, rapper, record producer and DJ. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding members of Boy Better Know in 2005. With Boy Better Know, Skepta clashed with fellow MC Devilman for the video release Lord of the Mics 2, in what is remembered as one of the biggest clashes in grime history.
Muhammad Mumith Ahmed, known professionally as Mumzy Stranger or his producing name SP, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He made his mainstream recording debut in the summer of 2009 with his debut single "One More Dance" along with follow-up single, "Showgirl". The following year, he released Fly with Me which is the lead single from his debut album, Journey Begins.
Hartinder Dhami better known as H-Dhami is a British-Indian Bhangra artist.
The UK Asian Music Awards, also known by the abbreviation UK AMA, was an awards show that was held annually in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2012. The awards show has been produced and broadcast by B4U Music since 2008. Awards winners were decided by public voting at a website, from a list of nominees presented by the event organizers, except for the special category awards "Outstanding Achievement" and "Commitment to Scene" which are decided by the organizers. Desimag called the event "The most prestigious Asian music awards ceremony in the UK".
"Cross My Heart" is a song by British MC Skepta, featuring vocals from actress and singer Preeya Kalidas. The song was released as a digital download on 17 October 2010 in the United Kingdom. It is the third single to be released from Skepta's third studio album, Doin' It Again (2011). The single will also feature on Kalidas' upcoming debut album, I'm Over It. On 24 October 2010 the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 31 becoming Skepta's fourth highest-charted single, after "Rescue Me", That's Not Me and "Bad Boy".
Doin' It Again is the third studio album by English grime artist Skepta. It features artists N-Dubz, Preeya Kalidas, Charlee Drew, Boy Better Know and Chip and was released on 31 January 2011 on Boy Better Know and All Around the World. The album's release was preceded by four singles which attained varied chart success on the UK Top 40 Singles chart throughout 2010.
Anthony Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Matt Lapinskas. He was introduced on 25 July 2011, as an extension to the Moon family. The son of Eddie Moon, half brother of Michael Moon and brother of Tyler Moon, his storylines have focused on the friendship between him and Tyler, and his relationships with Poppy Meadow, Jodie Gold, Amira Masood and Alice Branning.
Bend It Like Beckham the Musical is a musical with music by Howard Goodall, lyrics by Charles Hart, and a book by Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges. Based on the 2002 film of the same name, the musical made its West End and world premiere at the Phoenix Theatre in May 2015.
The Brit Asia TV Music Awards, also known as Brit Asia TV World Music Awards or the abbreviation BAMA, is an awards show that has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 2010, usually in October. The awards show is produced by Brit Asia TV. Award winners are decided by public voting on a website from a list of nominees presented by the event organizers at a nomination party. Website desiblitz called it "UK's largest celebration of South Asian music" and "the biggest awards in the British Asian Music calendar".
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