It was back in 2019 that a British actor of Pakistani descent, Zoha Rahman made headlines for portraying the character of the first veiled woman in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) production, Spider-Man: Far from Home. Apart from this, she also starred in the Apple TV+ series, Foundation, as well as Young Wallander. Last year she made her Bollywood debut in Kabir Khan’s film, 83, which featured Ranveer Singh in the role of Kapil Dev and Deepika Padukone.
On the local front, Zoha last appeared in the drama serial Dil-e-Momin on Geo Entertainment, in which she essayed the character of Faysal Qureshi’s youngest sister, Ainee. In a short span of time, she has proved her mettle as a versatile actor and seems like she is going places.
While we can’t wait to see what Zoha Rahman has in store for her fans, she recently spoke to South AsianToday, Australia’s first media start-up, highlighting the representation of South Asian actors. Moreover, she talked about the kind of content offered to them.
Talking about Muslim representation in the West, she pointed out, “Tokenism allows certain characteristics under the guise of being inclusive, but all it does is reinforce harmful stereotypes.”
The Dil-e-Momin actor explained how the entertainment industry looks at South Asians in particular. “Most of my auditions and offers are for ‘oppressed’ Muslim characters, or for characters who constantly feel the need to break away from their culture and faith to be liberated,” she told South AsianToday.
Zoha claimed that she hardly ever sees casting calls for a character not specifically ethnic or Muslim; and that puts her in a box because she feels that she is seen as brown and Muslim before she’s seen as an actor. She continued, “It’s almost like I won’t be believable as a love interest or best friend because how can someone who looks like me represent something so normal! This is why my role in Spider-Man: Far From Home was so refreshing, I was just a student having fun with her friends on a school trip, and I happened to be Muslim too!”
It is no secret that South Asian actors are offered a particular category of roles that are usually not shown in a positive light, or they are type-casted in some way or the other.
This is something that needs to be changed, according to Zoha Rahman. She wants equal opportunities to be given to actors – of any ethnicity – so that they are able to showcase their craft.
With a few projects in the pipeline both locally and internationally, we hope that the young and talented actor’s career continues to shine.
– Stay tuned for Zoha Rahman’s detailed interview in Instep on Sunday.