Hareem Farooq

Hareem Farooq (Urdu: حریم فاروق; born 26 May 1989) is a Pakistani theatre, film, and television actress and film producer.^{[citation needed]} She began her career with theater, playing the lead role of Fatima Jinnah in Pawnay 14 August and Kiran in Aangan Terha. She made her screen debut with a leading role in the 2013 horror thriller film Siyaah, which earned her a nomination at Lux Style Award for Best Actress.^[1]

Hareem Farooq
Hareem Farooq in 2023
Born	(1989-05-26) 26 May 1989 (age 35) Islamabad, Pakistan
Alma mater	Quaid-i-Azam University (B.A)
Occupation(s)	Actress, Producer
Years active	2012–present
Relatives	Abdullah Qureshi (cousin)

In addition to films, she appeared in the 2014 Hum TV's romantic television serial Mausam, for which she received Hum Award for Best Television Sensation Female, and followed it with the successful series, such as Mere Humdum Mere Dost (2014), Dusri Bivi (2014), and Diyar-e-Dil (2015). She co-produced and starred in the 2016 romance Janaan, followed by the comedies Parchi (2018) and Heer Maan Ja (2019). She is the first female celebrity to get the honor of hosting Pakistan Super League in the same year (2018).^{[citation needed]}

Early life

Hareem Farooq was born on 26 May 1989,^{[citation needed]} in Islamabad and spent most of her time in that city before she moved with her family to Karachi. Her parents are both doctors, her father being a public health PhD and international consultant while her mother is a dermatologist.^{[citation needed]} The actress received early education from Karachi Grammar School. She did her bachelor's degree in Sociology and Journalism from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, after which she began her career in acting. Singer Abdullah Qureshi is her cousin.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Farooq began her career in 2012 in theatre playing the leading role of Fatima Jinnah in Pawnay 14 August and Jahan Ara Begum in Aangan Terha which originally played by Bushra Ansari.^[2] The following year, she made her big screen debut with a leading role in the 2013 horror thriller film Siyaah. Farooq made her television debut with Mausam alongside Ahsan Khan and Yumna Zaidi in 2014. Her roles in romances Dusri Biwi and Mere Humdum Mere Dost brought little recognition to her. Her portrayal of a young-to-old family devoted lady in ensemble family drama Diyar-e-Dil proved to be a major breakthrough for her.^[3] She was then starred in Sanam as a victim of bipolar disorder alongside Osman Khalid Butt and Maya Ali. In the same year, she played the lead role in the film Dobara Phir Se and was a co-producer of the feature film Janaan where she also appeared in a cameo role. She appeared in the comedy flick Parchi as the lead role in which she played the character of a female don, with co-stars Ali Rehman Khan, Ahmed Ali Akbar and Usman Mukhtar in lead roles.^[4]

In addition to a successful and growing acting career, in 2015, Farooq ventred into productions, by joining her childhood best friend and producer of her debut film, Imran Raza Kazmi as a partner in IRK Films and went on to produce Janaan with him, followed by her 2018 blockbuster Parchi.^[5]

In the year 2018, she also went into forming a global entertainment company, IHA Entertainment with Arif Lakhani and Imran Raza Kazmi, which soon entered into an agreement with top entertainment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), as the first distribution firm.^[6] Hareem is also the first female celebrity to get the honor of hosting The Pakistan Super League in February 2018, where she hosted the 3rd PSL opening ceremony in Dubai.^[7] She has also signed on to become the official Spokesperson for Loreal Professional, Pakistan in 2017.^[8]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes film / drama that has not released yet
†	Denotes films / drama that are currently on cinema / on air

Films

Year	Film	Role(s)	Note	Ref.
2013	Siyaah	Zara		[9]
2016	Janaan	Herself (Cameo)	Co-producer	[10]
	Dobara Phir Se	Zainab		[11]
2017	Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor		Cameo appearance	[12]
2018	Parchi	Eman	Co-producer	[13]
2019	Heer Maan Ja	Heer	Co-producer	[14]

Television

Year	Drama/Play	Role	Note	Ref.
2014	Mausam	Saman		[15]
	Mere Humdum Mere Dost	Sajeela		[16]
	Dusri Bivi	Ayesha Hassan		[15]
	Eid Hungama	Herself		[17]
2015	Diyar-e-Dil	Arjumand Khan		[15]
	Mere Jeevan Saathi	Habiba		[18]
	Tere Baghair	Rabia Salman		[19]
2016	Dil-e-Beqarar	Farida Javed		[20]
	Sanam	Ayla		[21]
2017	Baaghi	Herself	Cameo appearance	[22]
2017, 2018	Miss Veet Pakistan	celebrity judge		[23]
2018	Main Khayal Hoon Kisi Aur Ka	Dania		[24]
2019	Dolly Darling	Herself	To promote "Heer Maan Ja"	[25]
2023	Sar-e-Rah	Mariyum		[26]
2023	22 Qadam	Farheen
2024	Bismil	Masooma		[27]

Accolades

Ceremony	Category	Project	Result
13th Lux Style Awards	Best Film Actress	Siyaah	Nominated
16th Lux Style Awards	Best Film	Jaanan