Aamina Sheikh

Aamina Sheikh (Urdu: آمنہ شیخ ) is a Pakistani actress and former model. One of the most popular and highest-paid actresses. She has established a career in the Pakistani entertainment industry. She is the recipient of four Lux Style Awards from nine nominations. Sheikh started her career in fashion modelling. During which she garnered international recognition as a spokesperson for the French beauty brand L’Oreal. For that, she received a nomination for the Lux Style Award for Best Model. Her performance in the film garnered critical appreciation and earned her many national and international awards. The awards are Lux Style Award for Best Film Actress, New York Film Festival Award, and SAARC Film Festival Award. Sheikh was widely praised for her role. She received nominations in the Best Actress category at the Lux Style Awards and the Silent River Film Festival.

Her performances in the romantic series Agar Tum Na Hote (2009), Umm-e-Kalsoom (2011), and Kuch Is Tarah (2013), earned her Satellite Best Actress and Best Actress Terrestrial nominations at Lux Style Awards. The following year, she appeared in the Geo TV series Dil e Nadan, for which she received the Lux Style Award for Best Emerging Talent. In 2010, she earned critical acclaim for ARY Digital’s romance Daam. She achieved further critical and commercial success for her role in the portrayal of Zarnab, in the romance Armaan (2013). Which earned her a nomination for the Tarang Housefull Awards—Best Actress. She later garnered wide recognition for playing leading roles in female-centric serials, including Hum Tum (2010), Ishq Gumshuda (2010), Uraan (2010), Mera Saaein (2010), Main Abdul Qadir Hoon (2010).

Early life

Sheikh was born in New York City to Abdul Sheikh, a pharmacist by profession. Sheikh’s paternal side of the family have established themselves in the textile business, but her father had a passion for chemistry; he pursued it and became a pharmacist. Sheikh continued further studies in Karachi and did her O and A levels from St Joseph’s Convent School, Karachi, and The Lyceum, respectively. Aamina has majored in film video production from Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, and has worked as an assistant at Manhattan-based multi-media company Curious Pictures. She received her primary education from Mama Parsi School and secondary from American International School in Riyadh. Sheikh has spent her childhood in Karachi and Riyadh.

Personal life

Sheikh’s journey begins with her oldster roots in Gujranwala, Lahore. Her father at a young age was the first to challenge the norms of small-town conservative family-business surroundings. He goes away against the grain to trailblaze a worldwide career in healthcare. Likewise, decades later, an identical outlier streak within the young sheikh set on fire to try to constant, except, within the unrecognized field of the arts. She was the first feminine and individual in her family to independently depart and pursue her passion for fine arts in her education in Amherst, MA, USA. This line of work additional refined into a degree in Filmmaking that transpired into an outstanding career in the performing arts within the decade that followed. Sheikh over the years has navigated her rich evolving career in conjunction with equalization a nurturing personal life.

She became a devout mother of a girl child in 2015. She continued to balance her life between work. That resonated deeply along with her audience and motherhood deepening her personality more. After Sheikh’s worldwide success of her performance in the film ‘Cake’. She was appointed as the ‘Global Ambassador for girls Education’ by PAGE – Pakistan Alliance for Girls Education. From then began Sheikh’s deeper commitment towards social reform and impact as a thought leader. She now actively lends her voice and persona to advocating for kid rights, women’s rights, human rights. She contributes effectively towards social impact services across mediums and platforms.

Career

Debut

After she returns back to the country, Sheikh landed a job with Geo Television, where she directed and produced the children’s talk show Bachey Man Ke Sachey. In 2007, Aamina made her on-screen debut in Sharjil Baloch and Khalid Ahmed’s telefilm, Gurmuch Singh ki Waseeyat. It was based on Saadat Hassan Manto’s novel, The Will of Gurmukh Singh.

Television serials, modeling and film

She garnered international recognition as a spokesperson for the French beauty brand L’Oreal. In 2008, Sheikh appeared in three major telefilms. Sheikh played a rickshaw driver who’s determined to become the sole breadwinner of the family, in Syed Ali Reza’s Aasmaan Chu Lay. Sheikh had to learn and drive a rickshaw on Karachi’s busiest M.A. Jinnah road and Garden Area, with a massive camera attached to it, and had to attract real passengers.

In the same year, Sheikh made her runaway debut with Rehana Saigol’s fashion show. She has done extensive print work for fashion/advertising labels/companies. Next in the following year, she did her second photoshoot for Niche Lifestyle, with Atif Aslam. In 2010, Sheikh did Mehreen Jabbar’s mega drama serials Daam and Haissam Hussain’s Ishq Gumshuda.

In 2011, Sheikh played the role of a grieving mother in Summer Nicks’ multi-award-winning feature film Seedlings and went on to win New York Film Festival Award for Best Actress and SAARC Film Festival Award for Best Actress. She then went on to play the lead in Iram Parveen Bilal’s feature Josh, before taking on the role of Natasha in the high-octane action spy thriller, Operation 021, produced by Zeba Bakhtiar and directed by Australian filmmaker, Summer Nicks. In 2013, Sheikh was awarded Miss Photogenic Award at the 1st Veet Celebration of Beauty Awards.

Television

Year	Title	Role
2008	Wilco	Megha
2008	Qisson Ki Chadar	Aimen
2008	Mera Naam Hai Muhabbat	Huma
2008	Boltay Afsanay	Razia
2009	Dil-e-Nadan	Seema
2009	Agar Tum Na Hotay	Shireen
2009	Qisson Ki Chadar	Hajra
2010	Haal-e-Dil	Seerat
2010	Daam	Maliha
2010	Tere Liye	Bushra
2010	Ishq Gumshuda	Simran
2010	Hum Tum	Neha
2010	Uraan	Ammal
2010	Mera Saaein	Sana
2010	Main Abdul Qadir Hoon	Nell
2011	Maat	Aiman
2011	Umm-e-Kulsoom	Umm-e-Kulsoom
2011	Kuch Kami Si Hai	Asmee
2011	Mora Piya	Ujala
2011	Ek Hatheli Pe Hina Ek Hatheli Pe Lahoo	Hijab
2012	Mera Saaein 2	Naina
2013	Mirat Ul Uroos	Aiza
2013	Silvatein	Zaib
2013	Kitni Girhain Baaki Hain	Anoushay
2013	Kuch Is Tarah	Sabina
2014	Jackson Heights	Salma
2016	Pakeezah	Pakeeza
2017	Khudgarz (TV series)	Ayera
2018	Nibah	Sofia

Films

Year	Title	Role
2011	Love Mein Ghum	Herself
2013	Seedlings	Maliha
2013	Josh: Independence Through Unity	Fatima
2013	Armaan	Zarnab
2014	O21	Natasha
2015	Good Morning Karachi	Mehwish
2018	Cake	Zareen
2019	Heer Maan Ja

Awards

Year	Title	Award	Category
2009	Dil-e-Nadan	Lux Style Award	Best Emerging Talent
2011		Lux Style Award	Best Dress Female
2012	Seedlings	New York Film Festival Awards	Best Performance by an Actress
2012	Seedlings	SAARC Film Festival Awards	Best Actress Leading Role
2013	Armaan	Tarang Housefull Awards	Best on-screen Couple
2013		Veet Celebration of Beauty Awards	Miss Photogenic
2013		Lux Style Awards	Best Dress Female
2013	Josh: Independence Through Unity	Pakistan Media Awards	Best Film Actress
2013	Josh: Independence Through Unity	Silent River Film Festival	Best Actress
2014	Seedlings	Lux Style Awards	Best Actress
2015	021	Galaxy Lollywood Awards	Best Supporting Actress