Meet the cast of Murdered by My Father
Who’s who in BBC3’s brilliant, hard-hitting film – and where you might have seen them before
New BBC3 film Murdered by My Father is an astonishingly powerful drama about so-called honour killings, which are thought to have been responsible for around 60 deaths in the UK in the past five years. A total of 12,000 ‘honour-based crimes’ have also been reported since 2010.
Here’s our lowdown on the excellent cast – the next time you read some of these names, they may well be engraved on a BAFTA.
Adeel Akhtar – Shahzad
Shahzad is a widowed father who has promised his daughter to a business associate – but soon discovers her heart lies elsewhere.
Adeel Akhtar turned heads with his brilliant performance as the hopelessly naïve wannabe jihadist Faisal (he was the one who wanted to train crows as bombers) in Chris Morris’ Four Lions. His other film roles include Maroush in Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator and Mr Smee in last year’s Hollywood fantasy Pan.
On TV, he was George in The Job Lot, Ray in Trollied and was BAFTA nominated for his role as conspiracy geek Wilson Wilson in Channel 4’s Utopia. He was most recently seen on BBC1 as Stellan Skarsgård’s long-suffering sergeant in Abi Morgan’s detective thriller River.
Kiran Sonia Sawar – Salma
Relative newcomer Sawar shines in the pivotal role of Salma, a teenager whose yearning for freedom sets her at odds with her father.
The actress made her screen debut in the short film Doug & Steve’s Big Holy Adventure, before bagging a recurring role in the US crime drama Legends, starring Sean Bean. She also made an appearance in Holby City last year.
Mawaan Rizwan – Imi
Imi is the charismatic charmer who catches Salma’s eye, setting the scene for an explosive inter-generational conflict.
Actor and comedian Rizwan found success as a YouTuber, attracting 20 million hits and over 100,000 subscribers for his sketch and vlog channel MalumTV.
On TV, he fronted last year’s BBC3 documentary How Gay is Pakistan?, during which he was offered a £12 herbal ‘cure’ for his homosexuality. He's also appeared in CBBC's spoof news show, DNN (Definitely Not Newsround).
Reiss Jeram – Hassan
Reiss Jeram – who plays Salma’s younger brother Hassan – was just 9 years old when he was chosen to appear alongside dance legend Akram Khan at the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony.
The following year, he starred in the BBC2 children’s fantasy drama Found, about a boy struggling to come to terms with life in a new town. You might also recognise him from a Sainsbury’s ad he filmed with a certain David Beckham…
Salman Akhtar – Haroon
Haroon – the business associate Shahzad wants his daughter to marry – is played by Salman Akhtar.
The Luton-born actor started his acting career on stage at The New Vic. This is his first major screen role, following numerous short films, and an appearance in the Jimmy Nail sitcom Parents of the Band.
