Nina Wadia OBE
Wadia in 2012
Born	(1968-12-18)18 December 1968 (age 57) Bombay, India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1991–present
Spouse	Raiomond Mirza ​ (m. 1998)​
Children	2
Family	Wadia family

Nina Wadia (born 18 December 1968^[1][2][3]) is a British actress. She is known for portrayingZainab Masood in theBBC soap operaEastEnders, Aunty Noor inCitizen Khan, Mrs Hussein in the BBC comedyStill Open All Hours and for starring in theBBC Two sketch showGoodness Gracious Me.

Additionally, Wadia appeared in theHindi-language romantic comedyNamaste London in 2007. She also appeared in the seriesOrigin in 2018 and the BBC soap operaDoctors asBinita Prabhu in 2023.

Wadia was born on 18 December 1968 inBombay, India, to parents who were ofParsi ancestry. She has an older brother and older sister; both of her parents have died. When Wadia was nine years old she moved toHong Kong and was a student atIsland School, Hong Kong.^[4]

Wadia first came to prominence inBBC sketch showGoodness Gracious Me,^[5] playing characters such as Mrs "I can make it at home for nothing!" and one half ofThe Competitive Mothers. She took over from herGoodness Gracious Me co-star,Meera Syal, in the role of Rupinder in the sitcomAll About Me alongsideJasper Carrott andNatalia Kills. In 2007, Wadia was cast asZainab Masood in the long-runningBBC soap operaEastEnders.^[6] Her last appearance as Zainab inEastEnders was on 8 February 2013.^[7] She also had a minor role inEastEnders in 1994, playing a nurse named Viv who treatedMichelle Fowler (Susan Tully) when she was hospitalised with a gunshot wound. She also appears as Zainab in the 2010 spin-offEastEnders: E20.

Wadia has also made several guest appearances in various British comedies and dramas, such as2point4 Children,The Vicar of Dibley,Thin IceChambers,Holby City,Murder in Mind,Doctors andNew Tricks. She was a regular presenter on theITV topical chat show,Loose Women (2005–2006). Wadia also appeared in theE4 teen dramaSkins, playing the mother ofAnwar Kharral, and, in March 2008, she appeared in theBBC Three dramaWest 10 LDN. Wadia played the wedding caterer in the comedy filmBend It Like Beckham.^[8]

She played a role as the housekeeper in the filmI Can't Think Straight, directed byShamim Sarif. The film revolves about two women from Indian and Palestinian upper-class immigrant communities in the UK who fall in love, and Wadia is the housekeeper who rebels at her high-handed Palestinian employer in small ways. She also had a minor part in the filmCode 46 (2003). She starred in a BFI/BBC filmSixth Happiness along withFirdaus Kanga in 1997. The film explores sexuality, disability and theParsees, a small westernised minority in India, of which Wadia herself is a member. She has also starred alongsideRishi Kapoor playing his wife in aBollywood film titledNamaste London.^[9] She voices the title role inEthelbert the Tiger – a children's programme. She also had a role inDoctor Who as a doctor in the episode "The Eleventh Hour".^[10]

In July 2013, Wadia appeared inAll Star Mr & Mrs.^[11] In September 2013, she appeared in ITV'sBig Star's Little Star. Since December 2013, Wadia has starred inStill Open All Hours as Mrs Hussein.^[12] In January 2015, it was announced that Wadia would have a guest role inHolby City, as an established neurosurgeon Annabelle Cooper. The role will be for five episodes.^[13] In April 2017, she appeared as Khadija inFinding Fatimah, a British romantic comedy.^[14] In 2019, as a last minute casting call, and in "More of a Cameo" as Wadia said, she played the minor part of "Zulla" in the live action remake ofAladdin directed byGuy Ritchie. In 2020, she appeared in the role of Anna Masani in the ninth season of the popular BBC drama seriesDeath in Paradise. Also in 2020, she had a small part in the fifteen minute dramaIsolation Stories alongsideSheridan Smith which was filmed viawebcam due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

From September 2021, Wadia was a contestant for thenineteenth series ofStrictly Come Dancing, paired with professional dancerNeil Jones.^[15] The couple were the first to be eliminated, in the second week.^[16] In February 2023, Wadia appeared in an episode ofBBC Four'sSpring Walks, exploringSwaledale in North Yorkshire.^[17] Then in April 2023, she appeared asBinita Prabhu in the BBC soap operaDoctors.^[18]

Apart from the original radio version ofGoodness Gracious Me, Wadia's other radio work includes guesting onParsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections, as well as regular appearances in theBBC World Service soap operaWestway as thepharmacist Namita ul-Haq. In 2001, Wadia voiced the role of Ariel in aBBC Radio 3 production ofThe Tempest. In 2002, she was due to star in theRoyal Shakespeare Company's production ofMidnight's Children, based onSalman Rushdie's novel, but she quit only weeks before rehearsals were due to begin.^[19] In December 2023 - January 2024, for Christmas and New Year, she made herpantomime debut playing Fairy Sugarsnap inJack and the Beanstalk at theYork Theatre Royal from Friday 8 December 2023 to Sunday 7 January 2024.

Wadia is married to the composer Raiomond Mirza. The couple first met in Canada and married there in July 1998. They live inSurrey. Like Wadia, Mirza is aParsi and the couple had a traditional Parsi wedding. She is a member of theWadia family.^[20][21]

Wadia was involved in the Pakistan Earthquake Appeal Concert and Fashion Show, at theRoyal Albert Hall in 2005. She has also been involved in campaigning forSave the Children^[22] and for increasedorgan donation from Asians in Britain.^[23]She is a Breakthrough T1D ambassador.

Wadia won Best Comedy Performance at the 2009British Soap Awards, as well asBest On-Screen Partnership at the same awards ceremony for her on-screen relationship withNitin Ganatra. In 2004, she won the chairman's Award at the Asian Women awards.^[24]

In April 2013, she was awarded with the Outstanding Achievement in Television Award atThe Asian Awards.^[25] The following year, Wadia won theSophiya Haque award for Services to British Television Award at the Asian Media Awards. The award was presented to her by Haque's sister, Seyera.^[26]

Wadia was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2021 New Year Honours for services to entertainment and charity.^[27]

Media related toNina Wadia at Wikimedia Commons

• Nina Wadia atIMDb

• 1968 births
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• 20th-century English actresses
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• People educated at Notting Hill & Ealing High School
• Wadia family

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