Amir Khan [Cheetah]
Amir Iqbal Khan (born 8 December 1986), is a British Pakistani professional boxer who is the former unified WBA (Super) & IBF Light Welterweight Champion. He previously boxed in the lightweight division, where he held the Commonwealth, WBO Inter-Continental, and WBA International titles.
Khan is the youngest British Olympic boxing medalist, winning silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics at the age of 17. He is also one of the youngest British world champions ever, winning the WBA Light Welterweight title at age 22.
Amir Khan started punching people in the face at the tender age of 11. Born and raised in Bolton, England, Khan started competitive boxing in junior high school and by age 16 won a gold medal at the European Student Championships in Lithuania, as well as the World Junior Lightweight Title in South Korea. In 2004, this Punjabi/Urdu/English-speaking 17 year old was Britain’s sole representative in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. There he won a silver medal in the lightweight boxing category and became Britain’s youngest Olympic boxer since 1976. By the time Khan finished his amateur career in 2004, he had a career win/loss record of 100:2. After a few tough years of hired and fired coaches and managers, Khan was well on his way back to world-title status in 2008 with 22 wins – of which 16 were knock-outs – and only one loss. In the meantime, Khan gave a hefty amount of charitable donations. He helped raise over 1.5 million dollars for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and also went back to his parents’ hometown of Rawalpindi, Pakistan to aid in the relief efforts for survivors of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. Tough exterior, softy at heart.
Amir Khan (Boxer)
Kamran Pasha
What hasn’t Kamran Pasha done? This Pakistani-born, Brooklyn-bred, near 40 year old has worn a plethora of career caps. After graduating from Dartmouth College, Pasha worked as a reporter, interviewing international leaders such as Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, and Pakistani former PM Benazir Bhutto. Deciding it was time to head back to school, Pasha enrolled in both Cornell Law School and Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and, in 2000, graduated with a joint law/business degree. In 2003, Pasha attended the UCLA School of Theater Film and Television and graduated with an MFA in Producing, making a career switch from law to filmmaking. Starting with jobs as a writer for the remake of cult classic The Twilight Zone, Pasha wrote and co-produced Showtime’s Emmy-nominated drama miniseries, Sleeper Cell (in which Faran Tahir also had a role. He hit a few bumps with NBC’s Bionic Woman and the recently cancelled but intriguing series Kings, but he spent his idle time writing a few novels, namely “Mother of the Believers” and “Shadow of the Swords.” H recently wrote a video game for rapper 50 cent titled “50 Cent: Blood on the Sand” and celebrated with his mom on a trip to – no, not Disneyland – but rather a pilgrimage to Makkah for Hajj.
Kamran Pasha
Faran Tahir
Fan of Grey’s Anatomy? Maybe you’ve seen the latest Star Trek? How about Iron Man? Lost? Alias? 24? If you’ve seen any or all of the previous films or shows, chances are Faran Tahir is a familiar face. This Pakistan-raised actor moved to the United States as a teenager while his parents were studying acting and directing at UCLA. Well established in Pakistan as a theater family with actors, directors and writers alike, Tahir followed in their footsteps, attending UC Berkeley and graduating with a BA in Theater and later attending Harvard University’s Institute for Advanced Theater Training. He first showed up on the big screen as Nathoo in Disney’s non-animated version of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. He then played Raj in the cultural hit ABCD and has since had over 40 roles in both film and television.
He made his film debut playing Nathoo in the Disney’s 1994 live-action version of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. He has since appeared in such films as Picture Perfect (1997), Anywhere But Here (1999), and Charlie Wilson’s War (2007). He also played the male lead in the 1999 independent film ABCD. In 2008, Tahir played the role of the villain Raza in the Marvel Comics-based Iron Man. He played Starfleet Captain Richard Robau in the 2009 film Star Trek.
Tahir has guest starred on many television series, including Alias, The Practice, Family Law, The Agency, NYPD Blue, Lost, 7th Heaven, The West Wing, JAG, Walker, Texas Ranger, The D.A., 24, Monk, Justice, Cold Case, Chuck and Warehouse 13. He also co-starred with Robert Beltran and Chase Masterson in the 2005 Sci Fi Channel original movie Manticore. He also starred in the medical drama series Grey’s Anatomy as Isaac and, most recently, appeared on the CW series Supernatural as the Egyptian God Osiris in the seventh Season’s episode “Defending Your Life”. Tahir will star in the upcoming ghost horror film Jinn. He is listed to play “Cobra Commander” in G. I. Joe: Retaliation.
Faran Tahir
Nadia Ali (my fav)
If you turned the radio onto a Top40/pop station anytime between 2001 and today, it is very likely you heard Nadia Ali crooning the lyrics to her band iiO’s song “Rapture”. A Top 10 UK and US Billboard song, Rapture put iiO and Nadia Ali on the musical map of success. Ali, 29, is a Pakistani-American born in Libya and raised in Queens, New York. Thanks to her songwriting skills and a little bit of luck,’ Rapture’ became a club hit and, five years later, was followed by “Is it Love” a song that peaked to the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Dance Chart. Still located in New York, Ali is currently writing and releasing singles as a solo artist – these days with producer Armin Van Buuren, who himself has a plethora of number-one dance hits both in the U.S. and Europe.
She gained attention as the frontwoman and songwriter of the band iiO, after their 2001 hit “Rapture” reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also charted across several countries in Europe. Their 2006 single, “Is It Love?”, reached the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart.
Nadia Ali
Iqbal Theba
Iqbal Theba. He looks like an ‘uncle’ your dad may have invited over for chai. Even his migration to America sounds similar to the stories of our parents: Born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1963; came to the United States in 1981 to study Civil Engineering at the University of Oklahoma; got a degree in Construction Engineering Management; went back to the University of Oklahoma in 1986 to get another degree; moved to LA with 37 dollars in his pocket, slept on a friend’s couch and looked for a job in…acting? Ok, maybe he isn’t the same as our parents, after all. But the days of sleeping on couches are over for Theba. These days he’s enjoying the success of the breakout musical show Glee on Fox. Theba plays Principal Figgins, the regulator of an Ohio high school and mediator of fights between teachers running the Glee Club and the Cheerleading Team, The Cheerios. An actor with a serious IMDB resume, Theba has appeared on everything from The West Wing to F.R.I.E.N.D.S, even landing a recurring role on NBC’s new hit Community while simultaneously working on Glee.Theba also had brief recurring roles on Married… with Children and ER. His other credits include appearances on Nip/Tuck, Alias, Two and a Half Men, Roseanne, Kitchen Confidential, Chuck, JAG, Arrested Development, Childrens Hospital, The Tick, The West Wing, Friends, Sister Sister, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, King of the Hill, Weeds and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Iqbal Theba
Imran Khan
Perpetually sunglassed and sporting giant blingin’ chains, Imran Ul-Deen Khan is Holland’s latest export. Holland? Yep, The Hague, Holland is where Pakistani-born Punjabi singer/rapper Imran Khan was raised and started his music career. After little success in album production in both the Netherlands and Pakistan, Khan, 25, was later picked up by Prestige Records which launched his first big single “Ni Nachleh” in the United Kingdom. Under the direction of his new label, his debut song became a hit sensation on the radio and in clubs throughout the UK, eventually leading to larger exposure on television and eventually on a worldwide level. Last July he released his much-anticipated album Unforgettable, from which tracks such as “Amplifier” and “Bewafa” shot to the top of the charts.
Imran Khan
Bohemia (My Fav…)
Born in Lahore Pakistan, he moved to the United States during his teen years when his mother passed away. He started learning music at a very young age from his father. He started writing Punjabi poetry around then as well. After moving to San Francisco Bay Area California, USA at about 14 years of age, Bohemia was introduced to America that was much the opposite of palm trees and green grass. Bohemia’s first album was Vich Pardesan De 2003, which was about coming to a foreign land. Hip Hop was then limited to the underground. But with this album, he pioneered Punjabi rap. Then came Pesa Nasha Pyar (Money, Intoxication, Love) 2006, the first-ever full-length Desi rap album to be released worldwide on a major music label (Universal Music Group).
Bohemia appears in XXL magazine New York. He enters Bollywood in 2009 with the title track for Warner Bros. feature film ‘Chandni Chowk to China’, Bohemia appeared in the film with Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone.[1]. He most recently lends his voice for the film Desi Boyz. Bohemia raps to set the scene for Sanjay Dutt’s cameo along with, Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone and Chitrangda Singh.
BOHEMIA
Natasha Khan (Bat for Lashes)
Who is “Bats for Lashes?” I’ll admit, I wasn’t too sure myself. This 29-year-old British rocker is actually Natasha Khan, the London-born daughter of former pro-squash player Rehmat Khan and niece of squash-amazing-great Jahangir Khan (ask your parents). A Marine biologist-hopeful turned self-proclaimed rebel, Khan avoided xenophobic classmates ripping her to shreds by delving into the world of music, ultimately leading to her studying Music and Visual Arts at the University of Brighton. Khan dropped her first album, ‘Fur and Gold’, in 2006, garnering enough attention to get an invitation from Radiohead’sThom Yorke, for whom she opened during his 2008 European tour.
In early 2010, Khan toured South America supporting Coldplay after a one-off gig at The De La Warr Pavilion.[25] In mid 2010, she collaborated with Beck on the track “Let’s Get Lost” for the Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack. Khan expressed interest in working with Beck on her third album, saying he had “creative ideas.”
In 2010, Bat for Lashes contributed the song “Sleep Alone” from Two Suns to the Enough Project and Downtown Records’ Raise Hope for Congo compilation. Proceeds from the compilation fund efforts to make the protection and empowerment of Congo’s women a priority, as well as inspire individuals around the world to raise their voice for peace in Congo. For Record Store Day 2010, Bat for Lashes released an exclusive double A-side 7″ single comprising a live performance of “Trophy” single B-side “Howl” recorded at De La Warr Pavilion and a cover of Wild Is the Wind, originally written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington.
In 2011, Khan recorded a cover version of Depeche Mode’s song “Strangelove” for a Gucci advertising campaign. The song was released as a free download from Gucci’s channel on YouTube and various blogs. In June 2011, Khan performed two shows at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Vivid LIVE Arts Festival, her only performances of the year.
Natasha Khan (Bat For Lashes)
Jessica Lucas
This 24-year old, half-Pakistani/Haitian Canadian actress is currently playing the role of Riley Richmond on the revamped series, Melrose Place. Playing a hot-to-trot elementary school teacher with commitment issues, Lucas isn’t new to the scene of tween-television. She had a recurring role on the new 90210 as an undercover cop posing as a student, and prior to that she starred as Bekka Lawrence in the Canadian-based teen show Edgemont. CSI fans may have seen her play Ronnie Lake for a four-episode arc or perhaps you may remember her as Lily Ford in the 2008 JJ Abrams film Cloverfield. Lucas’ dream project is “something in the musical realm.” Having achieved box-office success on the big screen and now small, the only place left for this artist to breakthrough is on Broadway.
Jessica Lucas
