Aysha Kala stars as Saima Hyatt-Virdee in the BBC's new crime drama, Virdee, which follows a Bradford-based detective on the hunt for a killer.
Viewers may recognise Aysha for her roles in Indian Summers and Criminal Record, but how much do you know about her life off-camera? Here's all we know…
Aysha's career
Aysha, who hails from Snaresbrook in east London, trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama before making her TV debut as aspiring doctor Sita Desai in season eight of Channel 4's Shameless. She went on to appear in the film Jadoo, before landing a string of theatre roles, including Iqbal Khan's Much Ado About Nothing – a role for which she was nominated for the prestigious Ian Charleston Award.
Since then, Aysha, 34, has appeared in a number of hit TV shows, including the Channel 4 drama Indian Summers, Call the Midwife, Master of None and The Undeclared War.
© Apple TV+The actress, who was named a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit of 2015, is also known for her roles in The Doll Factory and Criminal Record.
Aysha's life off-screen
Congratulations are in order for Aysha as she's expecting a baby. The actress, who keeps her private life out of the spotlight, debuted her blossoming baby bump at the premiere of Virdee earlier this month.
Posting a carousel of snaps from the event, Aysha penned in the caption: "Unbelievable night in Bradford for the Virdee premiere. Passing the show onto the city feels incredibly special, we hope you enjoy it."
Fans rushed to the comments section to congratulate the star on both her pregnancy and her new show. One person wrote: "Congratulations on all fronts, Aysha," while another dropped a pregnant woman emoji alongside the comment: "Ah congratulations Aysh, you look beautiful!!"
Aysha's role in Virdee
Aysha plays a nurse named Saima, who is the wife of lead detective Harry Virdee.
© Magical Society / Vishal Sharma / BBCAhead of the show's premiere, Aysha revealed that she turned to her sisters-in-law, who are both nurses, when preparing for the role. "Saima is a nurse and both of my sisters-in-law are nurses," the actress told the BBC. "One of them works in A&E so I spoke to them about their jobs. I think the key bit of research for me was actually the Bradford accent. It is really important to all of us to get the accent right. We had a really amazing dialect coach who helped us really get into the Bradford accent."
