Zaib Shaikh, actor, writer and director, is Canadian-born of Pakistani descent yet has not been typecast into the shallow ethnic stereotypes common in North American pop culture. His early roles came in the form of a recurring character named Jayesh on the short-lived though surprisingly entertaining nighttime soap opera Metropia, and that of city councillor Shakil Khan on the revamped Da Vinci's City Hall.
In 2007, with the phenomenally popular CBC comedy Little Mosque on the Prairie, he received international recognition. The series, which broke audience records soon after its premiere, is a sweetly contentious portrayal of Muslim inhabitants of a fictional Saskatchewan town who establish a mosque in the rented parish hall of the local Anglican Church. Shaikh plays Amaar Rashid, a big-city lawyer who abruptly switches careers and lifestyles to become the mosque's new imam. Shaikh brings a fierce intelligence and flustered naiveté to a role that has no precedent within Canada or Hollywood. He won the 2008 Leo Award for best performance in a comedy series for Little Mosque.
Shaikh has worked extensively within the theatre world as well. He co-founded the Whistler Theatre Project in Whistler, BC, in 2006, and is committed to making a lasting contribution to Canadian drama.
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Zaib Shaikh
CBC.ca: Zaib Shaikh