Phaldut "Paul" Sharma is a Welsh actor and dancer. He is perhaps best known for his small role in the 2013 science fiction move Gravity , and is also known for playing Achmed in Gavin & Stacey and AJ Ahmed in EastEnders .
Sharma was born in the UK to Guyanese Hindu parents, whose ancestors came from Uttar Pradesh. [1] [2] [3]
Sharma played Vinnay Ramdas in Casualty and then Damon Lynch in 2011, [4] Rajiv in comedy-drama Roger Roger and Paul in Meet the Magoons . [5] He has also appeared in episodes of Life on Mars , Dalziel and Pascoe and the BBC daytime series Doctors . also appeared in one episode of Ultimate Force Series 4 Episode 3 "the dividing line".
Sharma was in the first episode of the UK comedy The Office , playing Sanj, and was Stacey Shipman's (Joanna Page) ex-fiancé, Achmed, in Gavin & Stacey . In 2009, Sharma appeared as Hindu nationalist Harish Dhillon in an episode of Spooks. In 2012, Sharma was cast in EastEnders as Masood Ahmed's (Nitin Ganatra) brother AJ, a regular character. [6] He left the soap opera in 2014. [7] He also appeared in episode six of Hunted .
In 2013, Sharma garnered notable attention from South Asian outlets for a small role in the 2013 science fiction move Gravity , where he chose to sing a short portion of the popular Hindi song Mera Joota Hai Japani . [8] [3] [2]
In 2015, Sharma released 'I Gotta Be Me' - a ten-part web comedy in which he plays Paul Shah - a semi-autobiographical character based on his experience as a Sammy Davis Junior tribute act. [9] He also appeared as Leigh in episodes four and five of Cucumber . In 2019, he appeared as Tom, the father of Sophie who befriends the titular character in season 1 of Hanna .
In 2021, Sharma appeared as DCI Ram Sidhu in the fourth series of ITV drama Unforgotten . [10] In 2023 he filmed the BBC television feature Men Up , about the first clinical trials for the drug Viagra that took place in Swansea in 1994. [11] He plays Peetham "Pete" Shah. [12]
Sharma played Sammy Davis Jr in the West End production of Rat Pack Confidential in 2003. [13]
From September to October 2010, he appeared in Factory Theatre Company's Boiling Frogs at Southwark Playhouse, London. [14] [15]
Raj Kapoor was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of the greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers in the history of Indian cinema, and has been referred to as The Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema and as the Charlie Chaplin of Indian Cinema.
Rishi Kapoor was an Indian actor, film director, and producer who worked in Hindi films. Kapoor was the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards, in a career that spanned 50 years.
Nina Wadia is an English actress and comedian. She is known for portraying Zainab Masood in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, Aunty Noor in Citizen Khan, Mrs Hussein in the BBC comedy Still Open All Hours and for starring in the BBC Two sketch show Goodness Gracious Me.
Shree 420 is a 1955 Indian Hindi comedy-drama film directed and produced by Raj Kapoor from a story written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas whose use of Shree with the negative connotations of 420 caused controversy. The film stars Nargis, Nadira, and Kapoor. The number 420 refers to Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, which prescribes the punishment for the offence of fraud; hence, "Mr. 420" is a derogatory term for a fraud. The film centers on Raj Kapoor, a poor but educated orphan who comes to Bombay with dreams of success. Kapoor's character is influenced by Charlie Chaplin's "little tramp", much like Kapoor's character in his 1951 Awaara. The music was composed by the team of Shankar Jaikishan, and the lyrics were penned by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri.
Joanna Louise Page is a Welsh actress and presenter, known for portraying Stacey Shipman in the BAFTA-winning television series Gavin & Stacey. She played Dora Spenlow in the 1999 adaptation of David Copperfield, and featured as Just Judy in the 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually. She currently co-presents the BBC One consumer series Shop Well for Less. In 2023, Page joined Loose Women as a regular panellist.
Lesley Jane Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Laurie Brett. She made her first appearance on 21 June 2004. Brett took maternity leave in 2011 and departed on 19 May. She returned on 8 November and departed again on 27 January 2012. Jane made a temporary return to the show on 6 January 2014 until 20 May of that year and permanently from 24 November 2014 to 23 October 2017.
"Mera Joota Hai Japani" is a Hindi song with music by Shankar Jaikishan and lyrics by Shailendra, written for the 1955 Bollywood film Shree 420. It was performed by popular Bollywood star Raj Kapoor, though actually sung by playback singer Mukesh.
Gita Kapoor is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Shobu Kapoor, from 18 February 1993 to 24 September 1998.
Nitin Chandra Ganatra is a Kenyan-born British actor. He is known for portraying Masood Ahmed in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders (2007–2019), for which he won a British Soap Award.
Adrian Philip Scarborough is an English actor.
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.
Shabnam Masood is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Zahra Ahmadi from 2007 to 2008, and by Rakhee Thakrar from 2014 to 2016. Shabnam's first appearance was on 17 July 2007. Ahmadi made her final appearance as Shabnam on 24 October 2008. Shabnam returned to the show on 13 January 2014, after Thakrar assumed the role on 1 December 2013. After two years on the show, Thakrar abruptly ended her portrayal of Shabnam on 5 February 2016.
Vineeta Rishi is known for playing Jas Khella in the BBC One soap opera Doctors.
Masood Ahmed is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nitin Ganatra. The character made his first appearance in episode 3452, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 16 October 2007. Masood was introduced as part of the Masood family, a Pakistani-Muslim family gradually introduced across 2007 as part of plans to "diversify" the serial. This marked Ganatra's first role in soap opera and he was "nervous but excited" about joining the serial. His problematic marriage to Zainab Masood, who he had previously starred alongside, served as a key storyline for the character throughout his tenure. Early storylines for the character include bankruptcy and struggling to accept his son Syed Masood's homosexuality. Wadia and Ganatra received positive reception from viewers and critics and were nominated for several awards.
Dominic Power is an English actor. Power has portrayed Leon Taylor in the ITV police drama The Bill (2008–2010), Cameron Murray in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale (2011–2013), and Dave Chen-Williams in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2021–2024).
Yusef Khan is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Ace Bhatti. Yusef is the father of Afia Khan and former husband of Zainab Masood. He appears from 23 November 2010. Described as strong-willed, he arrives as Walford's new general practitioner. He departed on 26 December 2011, following the end of his domestic abuse storyline with his wife Zainab Masood in which he served as the show's main antagonist. Bhatti was voted "Best Newcomer" at the TV Quick awards and for "Best Storyline" for destroying the Masoods.
AJ Ahmed is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Phaldut Sharma. The character made his first on-screen appearance in episode 4458, which was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 9 July 2012. Sharma filmed his final scenes before Christmas 2013 and the character's final episode was broadcast on 10 January 2014, being episode 4783.
The Slater family are a fictional family from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, that have appeared since Episode 1,997, first broadcast in September 2000. The family are introduced as a central family unit, originally consisting of father Charlie Slater, grandmother Mo Harris, Charlie's daughters, Kat Slater, Lynne Slater, Little Mo Morgan and Kat's teenage daughter Zoe Slater, and Lynne's partner Garry Hobbs. A fifth sister, Belinda Peacock, was introduced one year later. The family were the eighth to be introduced in the soap's history, replacing the di Marco family who departed during the previous month. The Slaters were created by Tony Jordan and introduced by John Yorke. The Slater sisters were cast in an improvisation session. In their first years on the show, the family were involved in storylines about child sexual abuse and domestic violence.