Ace Bhatti
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Ahsen Rafiq "Ace" Bhatti is a British actor. Early in his career, he appeared in the BBC series ''
Cardiac Arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...
'' (1994–1995), '' Holding On'' (1997), '' NCS: Manhunt'' (2001–2002), and '' New Street Law'' (2006–2007), as well as the ITV series '' Cold Blood'' (2005–2008). He had a recurring role in the ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' spin-off '' The Sarah Jane Adventures'' (2008–2011) and played Yusef Khan in the soap opera ''
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
'' (2010–2011).


Early life and education

Bhatti was born in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
. He trained at the
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...
.


Career

Bhatti began acting at age fourteen starring in the children series '' Dramarama'', however it wasn't until the nineties until he furthered his career, for which he appeared in the British
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
'' Family Pride'', '' Band of Gold'', '' Holding On'', and most notably as Dr Rajesh Rajah in ''
Cardiac Arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...
'', among many other television roles during this time. In 2002, Bhatti made a brief appearance in ''
Bend It Like Beckham ''Bend It Like Beckham'' is a 2002 Sports film, sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anu ...
'', played the central character Dave in BBC Three's
dark comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
''Grease Monkeys'' (2003), and played flashy Ash Aslan in 2006's '' New Street Law''. In 2007, he took on a minor role for two episodes in the first series of ''
Secret Diary of a Call Girl ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'' is a British drama television series that aired from 27 September 2007 to 22 March 2011 on ITV2, based on the blog and books by the pseudonymous Belle de Jour. It stars Billie Piper as Belle, a high-end call ...
'' as Ashok, a regular client of the main character, Belle. He reappeared in 2010 in the same role. In 2008, Bhatti appeared as a supporting character in the second series of '' The Sarah Jane Adventures'', and reprised his role for the third series in 2009, the fourth series in 2010 and in the fifth series in 2011. Although credited in his early career by his birth name Ahsen Bhatti, Bhatti changed his professional name to Ace Bhatti (Ace is a childhood nickname). In 2011, he played Commander Khokar in the BBC2 series '' The Shadow Line''. In April 2013, Bhatti became a patron of Theatre Royal Wakefield. In 2018, he played
Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...
's father Bomi Bulsara in the biopic ''
Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''A Night at the Opera (Queen album), A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by Queen's lead si ...
''.


''EastEnders''

In 2010, Bhatti was cast as Yusef Khan, the father of already established character Afia Masood ( Meryl Fernandes). Bhatti was already known to ''EastEnders'' executive producer Bryan Kirkwood when he auditioned for the part, as Kirkwood and Bhatti worked on ''
Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...
'' at the same time. Bhatti was the only actor who auditioned for the part of Yusef. In fact, Wadia recommended Bhatti to Kirkwood to play Yusef, as she "thought that he definitely had the quality that Yusef would need—which is a very ambiguous but charming quality!" Bhatti explained to ''
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...
'' that the ''EastEnders'' cast are very welcoming. He explained: "They're so welcoming. There's a lot of joking about. I'm having a great time at EastEnders - it's a real privilege to be here. I've known Nitin and Nina Wadia, who plays Zainab, for a very long time and we've always got on very well. Nitin and I play tense scenes together so it's nice that we can have a laugh afterwards." He featured in a
domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...
storyline in late 2011 with co-star
Nina Wadia Nina Wadia (born 18 December 1968) is a British actress. She is known for portraying Zainab Masood in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', Aunty Noor in '' Citizen Khan'', Mrs Hussein in the BBC comedy ''Still Open All Hours'' and for starring i ...
who plays Yusef's wife Zainab. Yusef starts to abuse Zainab both physically and mentally. He forbids Zainab to leave the house and later starts using her son, Kamil, to control her. Wadia explains that she wants the storyline to have a positive impact against real-life violence. She told ''
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
'': "I think the idea behind showing a strong woman like Zainab changing like this is to show that it can happen to even the strongest of women. They can change and they can be manipulated - especially if they're isolated from their friends and family. The manipulator can take advantage, so it's to prove that it can even happen to people like her. To be honest, if even one woman rings that Action Line at the end of the show and there's some difference made to her life, I'll feel like we've done our job," she continued. "It is a serious issue and I'm glad it's being highlighted. I hope that it wakes anyone up - not just women, I know that there are abused men out there as well. So if it gives anyone the strength to leave a relationship like that, we'll have done our job." The scenes where Yusef refused to let Zainab see Kamil pulled in 8.69m viewers at 7.30pm. BBC Three's repeat of the episode later secured 994k viewers at 10pm.


Selected filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

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Ace Bhatti Interview with Asiana Mag

Ace Bhatti Interview with LeftLion Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatti, Ace Living people Actors from Whitby Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art 20th-century British male actors British male film actors British male television actors British male voice actors English people of Indian descent Male actors from Nottingham Year of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British male actors