Aqib Khan ( ur, عاقب خان; born 24 August 1994) is an English actor, best known for his leading role in the 2010 comedy film ''West Is West''. He is also a key cast member in BBC series ''

Ladhood ''Ladhood'' is a British coming of age comedy series that premiered on BBC iPlayer on 24 November 2019. Written by, and starring, Liam Williams, the series details the experiences of his adolescence, and serves as a television adaptation of hi ...

''.

Early life

Khan was born in the city of Bradford in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

in England, and is of Pakistani descent. Khan attended Knowleswood Primary School prior to enrolling at Nab Wood School, then Tong High School where he took drama, followed by Thornton Grammar School where he studied for a BTEC in Sports.

Career

Khan made his screen debut in the 2010 comedy film '' West Is West'', sequel to the 1999 film '' East Is East'', both written by Ayub Khan-Din. He was fifteen years old and studying his

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

when he auditioned for the role of Sajid; and was sixteen years old and in

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

when he was cast. When cast in ''West Is West'', Khan had only appeared in one school theatre play and had little acting experience. He was considered "something of a find" for the film due to his resemblance to actor Jordan Routledge, who played the role of Sajid in the

original film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. History Original Film was started out in the early 1990s by Neal ...

, and was selected following over 300 auditions for the part. Khan joined the cast and crew in both Salford and in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(doubling up as

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

) for filming of ''West Is West''. Of his performance, '' Belfast Telegraph'' wrote that Khan "has revealed he already had a strong connection to the character of Sajid Khan before he was cast in the sequel to hit comedy ''East Is East''" while '' RTÉ'' wrote "newcomer Aqib Khan is superb as the cheeky, angst-ridden teen, and his change of heart plays out convincingly". ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

'' wrote "as Sajid, young Aqib Khan has enough natural charm and confidence to make him an endearing scene-stealer" and Canadian publication ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'' wrote "newbie Aqib Khan fits perfectly." In 2014, Khan was co-lead in Jason Wingard's short film ''Going to Mecca'' alongside comedian Jack Carroll, but actor Antonio Aakeel was selected to portray the same character alongside Carroll in the 2019 feature film version of the short, titled ''

Eaten by Lions ''Eaten by Lions'' is a 2019 British comedy film written and directed by Jason Wingard. The film stars Antonio Aakeel as Omar and Jack Carroll as Pete. The film is the feature-length adaptation of the director's 2013 short film 'Going to Me ...

''. In November 2019, Khan appeared as part of the main cast in ''

'', a BBC series written by and starring comedian Liam Williams. The series details the experiences of his adolescence, and serves as a television adaptation of his

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

show of the same name. In April 2021, Khan rejoined the cast as filming began for season two of ''Ladhood'', which was released in August 2021.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Aqib 1994 births Living people British male actors of Asian descent English male child actors English male film actors Male actors from Bradford Pashtun actors British film actors of Pakistani descent