Pooja Shah (born 8 August 1979) is a British actress, filmmaker and

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

. She is known for her role as Kareena Ferreira in the popular UK

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 ...

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 ...

. Shah works with her husband directing and writing short films and has won three film awards for them.

Early life and career

Pooja Shah's grandparents migrated to

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

from

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

Western India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of western states of India, Republic of India. The Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative divisions of India, Adminis ...

. Shah trained as an

Indian classical dance Indian classical dance, or ''Shastriya Nritya'', is an umbrella term for different regionally-specific Indian classical dance traditions, rooted in predominantly Hindu musical theatre performance,, Quote: All of the dances considered to be part ...

r. She attended the

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based in Brighton on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achieved university status in 1992. T ...

, graduating in 2001 with a BA Hons Degree in Theatre with Visual Practice. Shah began her acting career in the theatre and went on to play the lead role of

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

in a small budget film named ''Jesus the Curry King''. The film was produced by the Aylesbury Film Company and was one of the first digital films to be shown in

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

s in the UK. In 2002 Shah played Meena in the film ''

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 ...

''. Later that year she played one of the lead roles, Sinjata Kapoor, in the

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

series ''

Is Harry On The Boat? ''Is Harry on the Boat?'' is a 2001 British made-for-TV film, based on the lives of holiday reps in Ibiza. A television drama series then followed, airing on Sky One from 2002 to 2003. Background It is based on the book of the same name by ...

'' based on the best selling book by Colin Butts and the 2001 film. The story is about holiday reps in

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

and was filmed in Almunecar in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The series was positively reviewed by The Guardian, which said that the "cast and crew threw every last drop of talent and energy into the production, making this one of the liveliest bits of youth-oriented drama this year … a sex-crazed hybrid of Baywatch and Boogie Nights." Other credits include roles in the BBC hospital drama ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'' (2002), and the American series ''

Adventure Inc. ''Adventure Inc.'' is a dramatised adventure television series produced primarily in Canada which aired from 30 September 2002 to 12 May 2003. It was a co-production of Fireworks Entertainment (Canada), Tribune Entertainment (United States), M6 ...

'' (2003). In 2003 Shah was cast in her most notable role to date. She played Kareena Ferreira in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

''. The Ferreira family were not well received by critics or viewers and were dismissed as unrealistic by the Asian community in the UK. In 2004 the new executive producer,

Kathleen Hutchison Kathleen Hutchison is a British television producer, whose credits include '' Playing the Field'', ''Holby City'' (of which she was the Series Producer, then Executive Producer for many years) and ''Casualty @ Holby City''. ''EastEnders'' On 21 S ...

, made the decision to axe the entire family in a bid to improve the show, which had suffered from a vast ratings decline. Shah subsequently left the show in 2005. After leaving ''EastEnders'' Shah has appeared in a short film entitled ''CryBaby'', was a celebrity sponsor on the show ''

Strictly Dance Fever ''Strictly Dance Fever'' is a British television programme, broadcast on BBC One on Saturday evenings. It was an amateur dance talent competition, hosted by Graham Norton, which ran during Spring 2005 and Spring 2006. It had 2 extra shows, The S ...

'' and in September 2005 she acted in a feature film called ''Weekend Lovers''. Shah played the lead role, Sona Virdi, in the play ''Deranged Marriage'', which toured the UK in 2005. In 2006, she took on a lead role in the Britflick ''

Cash and Curry "Cash and Curry" is the third episode of series 1 of the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses''. It was first screened on 22 September 1981. In the episode, Del Boy sees a chance to profit from a dispute between two Indian businessmen. Synopsis R ...

'', which was released in 2008. The film also stars

Ameet Chana Ameet Chana (born 12 September 1975 in Epsom, Surrey, England) is a British-Indian actor and producer. His most notable roles include playing Tony in the film ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002), and Adi Ferreira in ''EastEnders'' (2003–2005). ...

, the actor who played her on-screen brother Adi Ferreira in ''EastEnders''. In 2007 she played the role of Reshna Dewan in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

police drama ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

''. Shah was a supporting actress in the 2009 and 2010 BBC drama ''

Missing Missing or The Missing may refer to: Film * ''Missing'' (1918 film), an American silent drama directed by James Young * ''Missing'' (1982 film), an American historical drama directed by Costa-Gavras about the 1973 coup in Chile *, a Belgian film ...

'' with lead,

Pauline Quirke Pauline Perpetua Sheen (née Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is a retired English actress. She began her career with roles on various television series, before fronting her own comedy sketch show, ''Pauline's Quirkes'', in 1976. She later starred as ...

, and starred alongside Brendan Carr in the Modern Life? feature film ''

Ten Dead Men ''Ten Dead Men'' is a 2008 thriller film directed by Ross Boyask, produced by Phil Hobden, and starring Brendan Carr, Terry Stone, Doug Bradley, Pooja Shah, Ben Shockley, Lee Latchford-Evans, JC Mac, and Tom Gerald. It is the follow-up to the c ...

'' produced by Phil Hobden and directed by Ross Boyask. In 2010, Shah filmed eight episodes of ''

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 ...

'', playing DC Moore, a police officer investigating an attack on

Tracy Barlow Tracy Barlow (also Langton, Preston and McDonald) is a Television in the United Kingdom, fictional character from the Television in the United Kingdom, British ITV (TV network), ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. She was born on-screen durin ...

. The first episode aired on 3 January 2011. Shah won a Best Actress award in 2010 at the

Rob Knox Robert Arthur Knox (21 August 1989 – 24 May 2008) was an English actor who portrayed the character of Marcus Belby in the film ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', and had signed to appear in its sequel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly H ...

Film Festival, for her role as Rajinda, a lesbian Indian girl about to tell her parents she is gay, just as they tell her of her arranged marriage to a man who is on his way to meet her. In 2015, Shah appeared in Challenge idents for

Wink Bingo Wink Bingo is an online bingo website launched in 2008. It is part of Broadway Gaming Ireland DF Limited and is based and licensed in Ireland. History Wink Bingo launched in 2008 and under chief executive Eitan Boyd it grew to 60,000 active pl ...

and more recently has featured in

Class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

(a ''

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) in 2016 and made another appearance in ''Doctors'' in 2017. She filmed In The Long Run (produced and starring Iris Elba) in 2019. Clients that she has undertaken corporate work for include

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...

and

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

Personal life

Pooja married Will Middleton in 2014. He is a director of photography.Will Middleton
www.willcam.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2019. They have two children.

References

External links

*
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Pooja Living people 1979 births English soap opera actresses Alumni of the University of Brighton 21st-century British actresses English Hindus English people of Indian descent English people of Gujarati descent English people of Kenyan descent British people of Indo-Kenyan descent Actresses from London Actors from the London Borough of Camden