Taj Atwal

Taj Atwal^[1] is a British actress from Norwich, who has appeared in Stella, In the Club, Line of Duty, The Syndicate and Hullraisers.

Taj Atwal
Born	Norwich, England
Education	York College Guildford School of Acting (BA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2012–present

Biography

Atwal was born in Norwich to an Indian family.^[2][3][4] After her mother lost her job at the Rowntree's factory in Norwich and was offered a job in York, Atwal moved there with her mother when aged about seven.^[4] Living in Haxby, Atwal participated in stage productions at Easingwold School.^[4] She had to leave her home aged 16, and lived with volunteers from the homeless charity SASH (Safe and Sound Homes) for two years, and attended York College from 2004 to 2007, obtaining distinctions in both a National Award in Dance and a National Diploma qualification in Performing Arts (Acting). For her graduate production, she played Anitra in Peer Gynt. Having gained funding through Dance and Drama Awards, she then became a student at Guildford School of Acting.^[5][6][7][8]

In 2013 she played Amani Sarin, a teacher who suffers alopecia due to stress and then lies that she has cancer, in an episode of the anthology series Moving On.^[9] Later roles include Jasminder in Stella,^[10] Jasmin in In the Club,^[10] and PC Tatleen Sohota in the fifth series of Line of Duty (2019).^[11] She chose to join the cast of The Syndicate rather than continue in Line of Duty.^[12]

Her stage roles include Meenah in East Is East (2014–2015), and Rita in a 2018 production of Rita, Sue and Bob Too.^[13] Atwal is an ambassador for Children's Air Ambulance.^[10] In 2020 she became a patron of Theatre@41 in York.^[6]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2014	Puja Nughts	Priya Shah	Short film
2015	A.K.A Nadia	Fayza
2018	Death on the Tyne[14]	Tracy	Television film
2020	Muse	Kay	Short film
2021	The Protégé	Seema
2022	Do This for Me	Beca	Short film
	Memory	Linda Amistead
	What's Love Got to Do with It?	Sumaira
	Christmas Carole	Bobbie	Television film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2012	In with the Flynns	Megan	Episode: "The Tandyman"
	Miranda	Emma	Episode: "It Was Panning"
2012–2016	Stella	Jasminder Choudary	Recurring role	[10]
2013	Love Matters	Uzma	Episode: "Kitten Chic"
	Moving On	Amani Sarin	Episode: "The Value"	[9]
2014–2016	In the Club	Jasmin Sidhwa	Series regular	[10]
2015–2016	Thunderbirds Are Go	Madeline Lemaire	3 episodes, voice role	[15]
2016	The Break		Episode: "Breaking the Code"	[16]
2017	No Offence	Tulip Panesar	1 episode	[17]
2018	This World	Nusba	Episode: "Murdered for Love? Samia Shahid"
2019	Pitching In	Reshma	Series regular
	Line of Duty	PC Tatleen Sohota	Recurring role	[11]
	Cold Call	Hana	Series regular	[18]
	The Diary of My Broken Vagina	Laura		[19]
2020	Van der Valk	Aamina/Zafira Jabara	Episode: "Only in Amsterdam"	[20]
	Truth Seekers	Elara	Recurring role	[10]
2021	The Syndicate	Roxy Varma	Series regular	[10]
2022, 2023	Hullraisers	Rana	Series regular
2022	The Control Room	Leigh	Mini-series
	Trying	Maya	Recurring role
2024	Death in Paradise	Zoe Ainsworth	Season 13 (E5-6). 2 episodes
	Too Good to Be True	Jasmine	Mini-series
	Daddy Issues	Cherry	Recurring role
TBC	† Riot Women	Nisha	In Production	[21]

Theatre

Dates	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
2014–2015	East is East	Meenah	Trafalgar Studios and tour	[22][23]
2016	Educating Rita	Rita	Hull Truck Theatre	[24]
2018	Rita, Sue and Bob Too	Rita	Royal Court Theatre	[13]
2021	Maryland	Fury	Royal Court Theatre	[25]

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Title	Result	Ref.
2023	British Academy Television Awards	Best Female Comedy Performance	Hullraisers	Nominated	[26]

References

1. "British actress Taj Atwal is all about living a complete life". Vogue Singapore. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
2. British actress Taj Atwal about living a complete life. Vogue Singapore.
3. Fulton, Rick (30 April 2016). "Actress Hermione Norris on her refreshing new show In the Club with all-female cast". Daily Record. Retrieved 13 April 2021. Taj Atwal, 28
4. Hutchinson, Charles (9 November 2017). "York actress Taj Atwal back on the Theatre Royal stage that shaped her career". The Press. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
5. Dodd, George (27 August 2019). "Line of Duty actress Taj Atwal returns to York to research play with SASH". The Press. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
6. Walton, Simon (11 August 2020). "Line of Duty star Taj Atwal to become patron of York's Theatre@41". Yorkshire Live. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
7. Jefferson-Brown, Nadia (26 August 2014). "College inspired TV star Taj Atwal to reach for the top". The Press. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
8. Bell, Jennifer (23 July 2008). "Recognising achievements". The Press. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
9. "Jimmy McGovern's Moving On". BBC. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
10. Poole, Cameron (9 April 2021). "Taj Atwal". 1883 Magazine. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
11. Ramsden, Sam (28 March 2021). "Taj Atwal Struggled with the Line Of Duty Acronyms, Too". bustle.com. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
12. Molina-Whyte, Lidia (23 March 2021). "Line of Duty star explains decision to leave show for The Syndicate". Radio Times. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
13. Billington, Michael (12 January 2018). "Rita, Sue and Bob Too review – Dunbar's comedy bleaker than ever in #MeToo era". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
14. Duke, Simon (15 December 2018). "Death on the Tyne to be must-watch TV this Christmas and it's set on Newcastle to Amsterdam ferry". chroniclelive.co.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
15. Percival, Ash (7 April 2019). "Line Of Duty Cast: Who Are The Characters In Series 5? Plus Here's Where You've Seen The Actors Before". huffingtonpost.co.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
16. "The Break". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
17. "No Offence(18/01/2017) (2017)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
18. "Acorn TV: Cold Call". Acorn TV. 21 November 2019.
19. "Channel 4 announces six new Blaps". Channel 4. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
20. Bley Griffiths, Eleanor. "Meet the cast of ITV's Van Der Valk". Radio Times. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
21. "Riot Women - cast announced for Sally Wainwright's new drama". BBC. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
22. Shilling, Jane (17 October 2014). "Strong drama in need of bigger monster". The Daily Telegraph. London. p. 36.
23. Wallwork, Melanie (27 January 2015). "Review: East is East, Opera House, Manchester". The Bolton News. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
24. Ahad, Nick (17 June 2016). "Stella star gets acting education in Hull". The Yorkshire Post.
25. "Maryland by Lucy Kirkwood". Royal Court Theatre. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
26. "Bafta TV awards 2023: the full list of winners". The Guardian. 14 May 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.

External links

• Taj Atwal at IMDb