Zara Sheikh (Punjabi, Urdu: {{Nastaliq|زارا شیخ) is a Pakistani model and actress.[1] Sheikh has acted in films such as Tere Pyar Mein (2000), Salakhain (2004) and Laaj (2003). She won the Nigar Award for Best Actress for her performance in film Tere Pyar Mein and Lux Style Award for Best Actress for her performance in ‘Laaj’.[1]
Zara Sheikh started her more than a decade long modelling career even before stepping into movies at a very young age. She started out with photographer Khawar Riaz, and till date, is named as one of his most successful models. Due to her unconventional looks, slender frame and height, Zara was an instant favourite for all leading designers. She has graced the covers of almost all Pakistani magazines, and appeared in campaigns for almost all leading brands, including Deepak Perwani, Aasia Saail, Salina Wardah, Nee Punhal, Dawn Bread, Mobilink, Rite Biscuits, Golden Chips, Coca-Cola, Head & Shoulders, Dabur Amla, 7up, Meezan, Gul Ahmed, Nishat, Levi's, Crossroads, Lajwanti, to name a few.
Unlike most Pakistani models, her fashion career, despite entering movies in 2000, continued for a long time owing to get ability to totally transform for each shoot.
Zara Sheikh made her cinema screen debut in 2000, through film director Hassan Askari's Tere Pyar Mein, in which she played the role of an Indian Sikh girl, who falls in love with a Pakistani banker. Sheikh received the Nigar's Best Actress award for her role in the film.
In 2002, she appeared in Sajjad Gul's Chalo Ishq Larain. A year later, in 2003, Sheikh played the part of a Hindu girl, Ram Khori, who converts to Islam, in Laaj (means Honour in English), a love tale set in the backdrop of 1947 partition of India and Pakistan.[2]
In 2004, Zara Sheikh worked in the 150 minute, Shahzad Rafique-directed Salakhain (translated as The Bars).[1]
In 2006, Zara Sheikh played the role of a girl-in-love in the Mubashir Lucman-directed Pehla Pehla Pyar (The First Love), a film partly filmed in Thailand. Speaking of her experience, post-production, Sheikh said, "It's not easy to work with Mubasher. He's motivated by his film a lot and does not believe in any compromises." She also stated that, at one point she had worked twenty-eight hours at a stretch, but that when I saw the result on the screen afterwards, I was in tears because it was clearly worth it."
In 2019, she starred in Heer Maan Ja).[3]
In 2002, Zara Sheikh collaborated with Ali Haider to playback sing three musical numbers for her movie Chalo Ishq Larain.
| Year | Title | Role | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Tere Pyar Mein | Preeti | ||
| 2002 | Chalo Ishq Larain | [4] | ||
| 2003 | Laaj | |||
| Commando | ||||
| Yeh Waada Raha | ||||
| 2004 | Salakhain | |||
| 2005 | Tere Bin Jiya Na Jaye | |||
| 2006 | Pehla Pehla Pyaar | |||
| 2008 | Kabhi Pyar Na Karna | |||
| 2014 | Honour Killing | Sameera | ||
| 2017 | Jung | |||
| 2019 | Heer Maan Ja |
| Ceremony | Category | Film | Result | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Nigar Awards | Best Actress (Urdu) | Tere Pyar Mein | [5] | ||
| 1st Lux Style Awards | Best Film Actress | Tere Pyar Mein | |||
| 2nd Lux Style Awards | Best Film Actress | Chalo Ishq Larain | [6] | ||
| 3rd Lux Style Awards | Best Film Actress | Laaj |