Aamina Sheikh

Aamina Sheikh (Urdu: آمنہ شیخ) is an American-Pakistani actress, songwriter and former fashion model. Sheikh has received critical appreciation for her acting prowess, and has won four Lux Style Awards from nine nominations.

Aamina Sheikh
Sheikh at an event in 2016
Born	(1981-08-28) 28 August 1981 (age 43) New York, United States
Nationality	Pakistani, American
Alma mater	Hampshire College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2007–present
Spouse	Omer Farooqi ​ (m. 2020)​
Children	2

Born in New York City and raised in Karachi and Riyadh, Sheikh studied video production at Hampshire College. After working as an assistant at Curious Pictures, she returned to Pakistan and started her career as a fashion model, during which she was a spokesperson for the French brand L'Oreal and received a Lux Style Award for Best Model nomination. She then featured as the female lead in the 2008 television film Baarish Mein Deewar and the Geo TV series Dil e Nadan, for which she received the Lux Style Award for Best Emerging Talent. Sheikh had roles in several series, including Daam (2010), Maat (2010), Uraan (2010), Mera Saaein (2010), Main Abdul Qadir Hoon (2010), Mera Saaein 2 (2012), Mirat Ul Uroos (2013) and Jackson Heights (2014).

Sheikh made her film debut with the 2012 acclaimed social drama Seedlings. Her performance in the film garnered critical appreciation and earned her many national and international awards, including the Lux Style Award for Best Film Actress, New York Film Festival Award and SAARC Film Festival Award. She achieved further success in the role of Zarnab in the romance Armaan (2013) and subsequently starred in the social drama Josh: Independence Through Unity (2014), a critical and commercial success. Sheikh was widely praised for her role and received nominations in the Best Actress category at the Lux Style Awards and the Silent River Film Festival. Her greatest commercial success came with the family drama Cake (2018). In 2015, she served as one of the committee members of the Pakistani Academy Selection Committee.

Personal life

She is an ethnic Sindhi. Sheikh married actor Mohib Mirza in Karachi.^[1] Their wedding was a three-day event taking place from 30 April to 2 May 2005. Mirza and Sheikh met on the set of a show which Mirza was hosting and she was directing.^[2] In an interview given to Jang, Mirza revealed that he had a difficult time convincing Sheikh's father to accept his plans for marriage, and that each meeting with him involved "extensive grilling".

Mirza and Sheikh have a daughter, Meissa, born in 2015. The two announced their separation in 2018^[2][3] and divorced in 2019.^[4] Sheikh remarried to a businessman, Omer Farooqi, in August 2020, and the couple gave birth to a son, named Issa, in 2021.^[4]

Career

After returning to Pakistan, Sheikh landed a job with Geo Television, where she directed and produced the children talk show, called Bachey Man Ke Sachey. In 2007, Sheikh made her on-screen debut in Sharjil Baloch and Khalid Ahmed's telefilm, Gurmuch Singh ki Waseeyat. It was based on Saadat Hassan Manto's novel, The Will of Gurmukh Singh.^[5] She subsequently garnered international recognition as a spokesperson for the French beauty brand L'Oreal.^[6][7]

Sheikh performing the song "Ko Ko Korina" in 2013.

In 2008, Sheikh appeared in three major telefilms: Aasmaan Chu Lay, Pachees Qadam Pe Maut and Baarish Mein Deewar.^[8][9] Sheikh played a rickshaw driver who's determined to become the sole breadwinner of the family, in Syed Ali Reza's "Aasmaan Chu Lay". Sheikh had to learn and drive a rickshaw on Karachi's busiest M.A. Jinnah road and Garden Area, with a massive camera attached to it and had to attract real passengers.^[10] In the same year, Sheikh made her runaway debut with Rehana Saigol's fashion show.^[11][12] She has done extensive print work for fashion designers, such as Deepak Perwani, Amir Adnan, Nomi Ansari, Niche Lifestyle, Khaadi, Teejays, The Men's Store, Fahad Hussayn, Hang Ten, Maheen Khan, Umbereen Sharmeen, Chinyere, Crossroads and Limited Edition. In the following year, she did her second photoshoot for Niche Lifestyle, with Atif Aslam.^[13] Her performances in the romantic series Agar Tum Na Hote (2009), Umm-e-Kulsoom (2011), and Kuch Is Tarah (2013), earned her Satellite Best Actress and Best Actress Terrestrial nominations at Lux Style Awards.^[14] She achieved further critical and commercial success for her role of portrayal of Zarnab, in the romance Armaan (2013), which earned her a nomination for the Tarang Housefull Award for Best Actress.^[6]

In 2011, Sheikh played the role of a grieving mother in Summer Nicks-produced multi award-winning feature film Seedlings and went on to win New York Film Festival Award for Best Actress and SAARC Film Festival Award for Best Actress. She then went on to play the lead in Iram Parveen Bilal's feature art film Josh: Independence Through Unity, before taking on the role of Natasha in the high-octane action spy thriller, Operation 021, produced by Zeba Bakhtiar and directed by Australian filmmaker, Summer Nicks.^[15] In 2013, Sheikh was awarded Miss Photogenic Award at the Veet Celebration of Beauty Awards. In 2018, she starred in Asim Abbasi's drama film Cake, alongside Sanam Saeed, which was a major critical and commercial success.^[16][17] While praising her performance, along with Saeed's, The Guardian wrote that they, "rank first among equals in an assured ensemble."^[18] Meanwhile, a reviewer from The Daily Times found that she "amalgamated Zarine’s character really well and made it look believable on screen."^[19] The film earned her a Best Actress nomination at the Lux Style Awards.^{[20][21][22][23]}

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Love Mein Ghum	Herself	Special appearance in song "Love Mein Ghum"
2013	Seedlings	Maliha
	Josh: Independence Through Unity	Fatima
	Armaan	Zarnab
2014	O21	Natasha
2015	Good Morning Karachi	Mehwish	Cameo appearance
2018	Cake	Zareen
2019	Heer Maan Ja	Nida	Cameo appearance

Television

Year	Title	Role	Channel	Notes
2008	Wilco	Megha	PTV Home
	Qisson Ki Chadar	Aimen	Hum TV	Episode: "Tum Aurat Mein Mard"
	Wapsi		ARY Digital	Telefilm
	Mera Naam Hai Muhabbat	Huma	Geo TV	Episode: "Ashiq Pan Shop"
	Boltay Afsanay	Razia	TVOne Global	Episode: "Daayin"
2009	Dil-e-Nadan	Seema	Geo TV
	Agar Tum Na Hotay	Shireen	Indus Vision
	Qisson Ki Chadar	Hajra	Hum TV	Episode: "Ghutan"
2010	Haal-e-Dil	Seerat	ARY Digital
	Daam	Maliha
	Saleena	Bushra	ATV
	Tere Liye	Simran	ARY Digital
	Ishq Gumshuda	Neha	Hum TV
	Hum Tum	Ammal	Geo TV
	Uraan	Sana
	Mera Saaein	Naina	ARY Digital
	Main Abdul Qadir Hoon	Nell	Hum TV
2011	Maat	Aiman
	Umm-e-Kulsoom	Umm-e-Kulsoom	ARY Digital
	Kuch Kami Si Hai	Asmee	Geo TV
	Mora Piya	Ujala
	Ek Hatheli Pe Hina Ek Hatheli Pe Lahoo	Hijab
2012	Mera Saaein 2	Naina	ARY Digital
2013	Mirat Ul Uroos	Aiza	Geo TV
	Silvatein	Zaib	ARY Digital
	Kitni Girhain Baaki Hain	Anoushay	Hum TV	Episode: "Gunhagar Dil"
	Kuch Is Tarah	Sabina	PTV Home
2014	Jackson Heights	Salma	Urdu 1
2016	Pakeezah	Pakeeza	Hum TV
2017	Khudgarz	Ayera	ARY Digital
2018	Nibah	Sofia

Awards and nominations

Year	Title	Award	Category	Result
2012	Seedlings	New York Film Festival Awards	Best Performance by an Actress	Won
		SAARC Film Festival Awards	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Won
2013	Armaan	Tarang Housefull Awards	Best On Screen Couple with Fawad Khan	Won
			Best Actress	Nominated
		Veet Celebration of Beauty Awards	Miss Photogenic	Won
	Maat	Hum Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
	Seedlings	Pakistan Media Awards	Best Film Actress	Nominated
	Josh: Independence Through Unity		Best Film Actress	Won
	Josh: Independence Through Unity	Silent River Film Festival	Best Actress	Won
2014	Seedlings	ARY Film Awards	BestActress	Nominated
			Best Star Debut Female	Nominated
2015	021	Tribune Cine Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Galaxy Lollywood Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Won
2017	Pakeezah	Hum Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
2019	Cake	Galaxy Lollywood Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role Female	Nominated

Lux Style Awards

Ceremony	Category	Project	Result
2009	Best Emerging Talent in Fashion	—	Won
2010[24]	Best Model of the Year (female)	—	Nominated
2011	Best Dress Female	—	Won
	Best Television Actress (Satellite)	Agar Tum Na Hotay	Nominated
2012[25]		Umm-e-Kulsoom	Nominated
2014[26]	Best Television Actress (Terrestrial)	Kuch Is Tarah	Nominated
	Best Dress Female	—	Won
	Best Film Actress	Josh: Independence Through Unity	Nominated
		Seedlings	Won
2019		Cake	Nominated

See also

• List of Pakistani actresses

References

1. Syed, Madeeha (6 December 2009). "Fashionfrontier: The dance of fashion". Dawn News. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
2. "INSTEP Magazine". Jang.com.pk. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
3. "Aamina Sheikh and Mohib Mirza part ways". The Express Tribune. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
4. "Aamina Sheikh confirms her wedding a day after cryptic post".
5. "Gurmukh Singh ki Wasiyat". Video: Channel Unplugged. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
6. "Launch of L'Oreal Paris Makeup Studio". Fashion Central PK. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
7. "Profile of Amina Sheikh".
8. Images Staff (30 March 2019). "Lux Style Award 2019 nominations are out!". Dawn. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
9. "Aamina Sheikh and Sami Khan starrer drama serial is an intense love story - Daily Times". Daily Times. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
10. "Aamina Sheikh Interview". Mag4u. Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
11. "There's something about Aamina". The Newsline Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
12. Butt, Rabia. "Who will be Pakistan's next top model?". Instep Dawn. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
13. "Atif and Aamina for Niche". desimanzil.com. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
14. "Up close and personal with the graceful and effortless Aamina Sheikh and why 'Cake' is going to be one delicious treat!". Retrieved 1 May 2018.
15. "Chocolate hero's Armaan has big plans for small screen". tribune.com.pk. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
16. "Review: Cake raises the bar for Pakistani cinema and left me wanting more". Images. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
17. "'Cake' takes a big bite of box office share". The Express Tribune. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
18. Mike McCahill (29 March 2018). "Cake review – Karachi sister act ditches melodrama for real life". The Guardian.
19. Haider Rifaat (1 April 2018). "'Cake' is a believable drama film executed to perfection". Daily Times.
20. "The unstoppable Aamina Sheikh - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
21. "Operation 021: It's worth your patience - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
22. "Aamina Sheikh's first look from 'Cake The Film' is finally here - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 5 December 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
23. "Lux Style Awards 2019 nominations are out!". Images. 30 March 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
24. "9th LUX Style Awards". Fashion Central. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
25. "Lux Style Awards: A trip down memory lane". The Express Tribune. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
26. "Nominees announced for 2014 Lux Style Awards". Daily Times. 12 August 2014. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

External links

• "Aamina Sheikh" on Facebook
• Aamina Sheikh at IMDb