Zarqa is a Canadian comedy web series, which premiered in 2022 on CBC Gem. [1] The series stars Zarqa Nawaz as Zarqa, a divorced Muslim woman whose ex-husband is remarrying to a younger white yoga instructor; she responds by inventing a fake white boyfriend of her own and sets out to find an appropriate man to portray him as her date at the wedding, but ends up being drawn into a love triangle when Brian (Rob van Meenen), the man she finds on a dating app, wants to establish a serious relationship rather than just being revenge arm candy, while at the same time Zarqa's former boyfriend Yusuf (Rizwan Manji) returns with an interest in rekindling their relationship. [2]
The series was inspired in part by the cultural and media response to the 2017 romantic comedy film The Big Sick , which centred on a relationship between a Muslim man and a white woman. [1]
The cast also includes Husnain Sher, Krystle Pederson, Nimet Kanji, Anand Rajaram, Kris Alvarez, Darianne Galden, Gerald Lenton-Young, Sangeeta Gupta, Omar Alex Khan, Bonnie Senger, Danny Balkwill and Katie Murphy.
Production on the series was announced in 2021. [3] It was shot in Regina, Saskatchewan, partially in Nawaz's own real-life home, in the fall, [3] and premiered on CBC Gem on May 13, 2022. [1]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Unknown | Unknown | May 13, 2022 |
2 | 2 | "Welcome to the Show" | Unknown | Unknown | May 13, 2022 |
3 | 3 | "Baby Jesus and the Donkey" | Unknown | Unknown | May 13, 2022 |
4 | 4 | "Vagina Weights" | Unknown | Unknown | May 13, 2022 |
5 | 5 | "Mehdni Madness" | Unknown | Unknown | May 13, 2022 |
6 | 6 | "Season Finale" | Unknown | Unknown | May 13, 2022 |
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