Nasreen Paracha

Nasreen Paracha is a fictional character from the Channel 4 school drama Ackley Bridge, portrayed by Amy-Leigh Hickman. Nasreen first appeared in the pilot episode of the series, first broadcast on 7 June 2017. Nasreen is introduced as one of the programme's two protagonists, alongside best friend Missy Booth (Poppy Lee Friar). As well as Hickman's portrayal of the character generating a positive reception, Nasreen has been praised by critics due to storylines such as her sexuality. Nasreen appears in the series until the end of the third series, when Hickman left to pursue other acting projects.

Nasreen Paracha
Ackley Bridge character
First appearanceEpisode 1
Last appearanceEpisode 26
Portrayed byAmy-Leigh Hickman
In-universe information
OccupationStudent
Relatives

Storylines

Nasreen is introduced alongside lifelong best friend Missy Booth (Poppy Lee Friar), when the pair are drinking cider on a sofa inside a skip on their street. The next day, the pair start at Ackley Bridge College, having previously attended different schools. Due to Missy retaking a year, she is placed in the year group below Nasreen. Nasreen's friend Alya Nawaz (Maariah Hussain) immediately disapproves of Missy, due to the way she talks and dresses. In order to fit in with Alya's group of friends, Nasreen begins wearing a hijab and shuns Missy. When Missy confronts her and exposes her for drinking, the pair fight and are taken in to see headteacher Mandy Carter (Jo Joyner), who gives them a formal warning. When Cory Wilson (Sam Retford) flirts with Nasreen and kisses her, she discovers that Missy asked Cory to have sex with Nasreen, as revenge.

Despite still being angry with Missy, she agrees to help her find her missing mother, Simone Booth (Sam Power). While on the way home, Nasreen comes out to Missy as a lesbian. She also reveals that she has slept with teacher Lila Shariff (Anneika Rose) when the pair knew each other at Nasreen's former school. Nasreen begins to rekindle her relationship with Lila when the pair kiss, but Lila later tells her that they cannot have a relationship since she is a teacher. Nasreen learns that her father Iqbal (Narinda Samra) is arranging a marriage for her, with an unnamed boy in Pakistan. Initially reluctant to marry him, she later agrees to it, out of fear to come out. Nasreen struggles with the idea of being in a loveless marriage to a man, and comes out to mother Kaneez (Sunetra Sarker), who is initially disgusted with Nasreen, but later accepts her sexuality. Kaneez goes on to introduce her to gay Muslim Naveed Haider (Gurjeet Singh), who she can have a fake arranged marriage with. Aaron Turner (Adam Fielding) approaches Nasreen on the street, and informs her that he is her half-brother, and gives her the address of his house. She arrives to find Iqbal there, and that he has a secret family. Due to feeling like she cannot experience any other lies, she cancels the fake marriage with Naveed. While at mosque, Nasreen's trainers are stolen by Sam Murgatroyd (Megan Parkinson), an islamophobic lesbian attending Ackley Bridge College. Despite their differing views on race, the two have sex, and begin a secret relationship. When sister Kaneez (Nazmeen Kausar Hussain) has a fight with Sam, Nasreen intercepts and is accidentally stabbed by Razia.

Nasreen decides to apply for a place at Oxford University, and Missy accompanies her to her interview. Missy confides in Nasreen about her plans for the future, which Nasreen mocks. The pair argue, but later reconcile their friendship. While walking on the street, the pair are hit by a speeding car driven by Anwar Wazir (Antonio Aakeel). The pair initially survive the accident, but Nasreen is distraught when she finds Missy's dead body in her bed, who has died as a result of internal bleeding. Angry with Anwar over Missy's death, she asks Sam to order the Murgatroyd family to attack him, but later disgusted with herself for her violent actions, she confides in Kaneez. Still grieving over Missy, Nasreen stops attending school in order to work at a factory, but after Kaneez and Naveed's disapproval, she rejoins school. Nasreen kisses classmate Chloe Voyle (Fern Deacon) at a party, who outs Nasreen to partygoers. Initially petrified to come out due to the Muslim community's opinion on homosexuality, Nasreen takes pride in herself and comes out as a lesbian at school. She later takes her A Level exams, which she gets poor grades in, meaning she cannot attend Oxford. However, unbeknownst to Nasreen, Kaneez drives to the university and pleads with them to let Nasreen attend despite her results, to which they eventually agree. Nasreen then ends her relationship with Sam, spreads Missy's ashes and leaves for university.

Development

Radio Times describes Nasreen as a "brave hearted soul", "strong and intelligent", as well as "extremely close to her best friend Missy". They added that she "knows who she is, but navigating her sexuality and the expectations of her family and community is quite a challenge".[1] On her character, actress Hickman stated that "Nas is very determined in everything she tries to do and that's a quality I really like about her. It's like she's gone, 'do you know what? Screw it. I’m going to do this for me'".[2] She described Nasreen's relationship with Missy as a "lovely friendship", and stated that the onscreen spark is owed to her friendship with Friar in real life, adding that they make each other laugh between takes.[2] Hickman has talked about the impact that Nasreen being a lesbian Muslim has had, such as Asian girls tweeting her or approaching her in real life to thank her for the storyline. She described the story as "not just doing a job you love", but "something for the greater good".[2] Hickman described Nasreen's decision to not enter an arranged marriage as a "huge step", and stated that since Nasreen is 17, she wants to "go on dates and download apps". She added that she is happy that Nasreen became "more of a normal teenager", and that when she read the scripts, she was "pleased that Nas is going to have a bit more fun".[2] Hickman has drawn upon similarities between her character and herself, stating that Nasreen's friendship with Missy was never a challenge to portray, and that "friendship is the most important thing to Nas which is something [Hickman] can strongly relate to".[3]

Hickman stated that she "a sense of pressure but not in a bad way" in portraying Nasreen, due to the "responsibility" she feels due to how "important it is".[4] On Nasreen's relationship with Sam, Hickman stated that Nasreen is "definitely ready" for a romantic relationship, adding that "someone comes into her life that is completely right for her and she ends up falling in love".[4] After the death of Missy, Hickman described filming her final scenes with Friar as "traumatic" and "hard", since Friar "really was leaving the show". She explained that "felt a little close to the bone because it really was the end of Missy and Nas", and that there was a "lot of truth" in the emotions displayed in the scenes.[3] On the departure of Friar, Hickman stated: "I as myself just like Nas, had to find my place without Poppy just like Nas did without Missy". Digital Spy noted that after the death of Missy, Nasreen's character development headed into a different direction, with them acknowledging that she "bridges the gap from adolescence to adulthood".

When asked if she would do a third series of Ackley Bridge, Hickman stated that she would be eager to portray Nasreen due to "the effect she has on girls", adding that she loves "every single story" that the programme tells.[4] In 2019, it was announced that she would be departing from the cast of Ackley Bridge after the third series, with Hickman taking on a role in the BBC drama series Our Girl. Hickman missed the physical training requires for Our Girl in order to finish her tenure on Ackley Bridge, commenting: "I was on the phone a lot to the military advisor, and he was letting me know what everyone was doing every day".[5]

Reception

Nasreen was listed as one of Autostraddle's Favourite Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans TV Characters of 2019, and was described as "groundbreaking". It was noted that representation of Muslims on primetime television is rare, and that "to have a young queer Muslim woman as, essentially, the lead character in an ensemble show" was something to be praised.[6]

References
  1. "Meet the cast of Channel 4 school drama Ackley Bridge". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  2. "Ackley Bridge star Amy-Leigh Hickman: 'I hated drama at school!'". What's on TV. 22 June 2018. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  3. "Ackley Bridge stars discuss "traumatic" episode 2 ending and filming those emotional scenes". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  4. "Ackley Bridge spoilers: Amy-Leigh Hickman reveals Nasreen will find true love this series". Metro. 26 June 2018. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  5. "Amy-Leigh Hickman: 'Filming Our Girl was like being at war'". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  6. "Autostraddle's Favorite and Least Favorite Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans TV Characters of 2019". Autostraddle. 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
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