Kaneez Paracha

Kaneez is introduced as the mother of Nasreen (Amy-Leigh Hickman), Razia (Nazmeen Kausar Hussain) and Saleem Paracha (Esa Ashraf/Yaseen Khan), as well as a school cook at the multicultural academy school Ackley Bridge. Kaneez learns that husband Iqbal (Narinder Samra) is attempting to have Nasreen enter an arranged marriage, which Kaneez disagrees with due to being forced to quit school as a teenager to marry Iqbal. When Nasreen refuses to get married and comes out to Kaneez as a lesbian, she is initially disgusted with her. However, after Nasreen's best friend Missy Booth (Poppy Lee Friar) talks to her about Nasreen's struggles, Kaneez takes it upon herself to understand Nasreen and her sexuality. She visits Hebden Bridge and talks to a lesbian woman, who reveals that she has a girlfriend as well as a gay husband, who she uses to deceive her family with. Their situation leads Kaneez to introduce Nasreen to gay Muslim Naveed Haider (Gurjeet Singh), so that she does not get negative attention for her sexuality from the local Muslim community. When Nasreen discovers that Iqbal has another family that live in Bradford, she informs Kaneez, who already knew. She visits Sandra Turner, his other wife, and professes that Sandra can "have him", since she never loved Iqbal. Afterwards, she throws his belongings out of the window and states that it is her house.

Science teacher Rashid Hyatt (Tony Jayawardena) informs Kaneez that her daughter Razia has dyspraxia, and despite her initial disagreement and anger at Rashid, she accepts that he is right. She then goes on a date with him, but struggles with insecurities due to never having dated someone. Rashid assures her that what she is doing is normal, and invites Kaneez to a university reunion, which she initially declines. However, she changes her mind and when she arrives, she sees him hugging his friend, and assumes that he has moved on. Rashid is puzzled when she ignores his advances the next day, so Kaneez explains what she saw at the reunion. He later professes his romantic feelings for, which she does in return, and the two begin a relationship. Kaneez then visits Iqbal, and informs him that she wants a divorce. She reveals their relationship her children, who accept their relationship since they like Rashid. When Kaneez feels as though Nasreen does not talk to her and discovers that she is using dating apps, Kaneez makes a fake profile to talk to her with. Missy finds out what she has done and advises her to delete the profile since Nasreen is developing feelings for the woman she believes is real. When Kaneez messages Nasreen to inform her that she is deleting the profile, Nasreen sends her a nude photo in order to persuade her to keep the app. Kaneez storms into her room and forbids her from sending nude photos, revealing that the account was her in the process. Nasreen is mad with Kaneez, but later promises to talk to her more, as long as she respects her boundaries. When Kanee feels she has more to offer at the school, and trains to become a student support officer. After Nasreen performs poorly in her A Level exams, Kaneez drives to the Oxford University, Nasreen's dream university, and pleads with them to let Nasreen attend despite her results, to which they eventually agree.

Upon the cast announcements for Ackley Bridge, Kaneez was billed as a "force of nature" who is "full of personality and opinions". It was stated that as part of her backstory, she arrived in England at the age of 16 and became "a prominent voice in the community, raising her family practically single-handedly while her husband Iqbal is away".[1] Actress Sarker added that due to her experiences with moving to England as a teenager has made her "a real example of self-learning and independence" due to "finding her feet with the language and life skills".[2] Sarker added: "[Kaneez is] a woman I haven’t seen on television before; full of personality and opinion. A good mother with a sense of humour but also a strict mother with a protective streak", adding that Kaneez is "fair to both white and Asian views".[3] Prior to appearing in Ackley Bridge, Sarker starred in the BBC medical drama Casualty as Zoe Hanna for nine years. Following her exit from Casualty, she explained that she was looking for "something very different", and described the role of Kaneez as "just the tonic", and "exactly what [she] was looking for". Sarker stated that she "loves" that Kaneez looks and sounds nothing like her in real life. She added that Kaneez is "funny", and "has a personality in a way that you don't usually see a Pakistani woman having". She went on to praise the series itself for their "three-dimensional portrayal" of Pakistani women, specifically praising the stories that her character receives for being "all about this woman being a force to be reckoned with".[4]

On accepting the role of Kaneez, Sarker stated that it was "just so rare to find a character that had been written as a three-dimensional Asian woman", and noted that it was even rarer for her to be a northern Asian woman. She complimented the writing for her character, praising the script for its "humour, pathos, drama, a bit of everything", adding that she knew from the first time reading it that she would enjoy portraying Kaneez. Sarker noted that due to the character being "so far away" from any of the other characters she had played, she suspected that people would think she could not portray the character accurately, even stating that she doubted her own capabilities.[5] Sarker noted how "Kaneez shows you westernised ways side by side with her Islamic life and blends both humour and truth in an authentic way", something she believes is not represented in media.[2] Explaining the inspiration for the characterisation of Kaneez, Sarker explained that Ackley Bridge director Penny Woolcock introduced her to Halifax resident Mrs Ikbal, whom the screenwriters had based Kaneez on. She stated that Mrs Ikbal was "quite prominent in the community", and that she was able to meet her during the audition process to ask her questions. Sarker then travelled to Halifax and had dinner at her house, noting that Mrs Ikbal "was cooking like four different meals". Sarker explained that the process was "important" for her to be able to accurately play Kaneez, and that she was "a real hybrid of many people I think I’d tried to take a bit of".[5]

Sarker stated that she enjoys that the role of Kaneez is not glamour driven, since it means she is able to focus on the character, and "put vanity aside". She also stated that it is "far more interesting to play a real women that we haven’t seen on TV before", noting that the decision to write her in this way was "bold and brave". She also said that one of the motivations for her going for the role was due to the lack of representation in the media industry, stating "a lot of single parent Muslim women haven’t really been portrayed in this light", and that she enjoys Kaneez having "a voice".[6] She also commented: "She is feisty and she wears her heart on her sleeve but she is a woman of substance, she is very vocal and passionate about caring for her children and her family, she doesn’t really hold back on telling people what she thinks, but that is one of the appeals of her personality."[6] On the styling of Kaneez, Sarker said that she "wanted to be dressed in Pakistani clothes", commenting: "I don’t think there are many people in places like Cambridge who will have bumped into many women like Kaneez, so it is great that we are bringing them into their living rooms." She also stated that she wanted Kaneez to speak with a northern Pakistani accent and to live "a very working class life style on screen", since it was something uncommonly associated with Sarker's other television roles. As Sarker does not speak Punjabi in real life while Kaneez does, Sarker had to learn the language for the role. She opined that it was "very difficult" since she was trying to learn Punjabi while also portraying the role authentically, adding that she gave it her "best shot". Sarker recalled that while filming for Ackley Bridge, co-stars would tell her statements such as "you sound just like my auntie" and "that's just what my mum would say", which she accredited to making her feel like she was "on the right lines".[6] Sarker had a voice coach to help her with Kaneez's accent, and noted that she "studied [her] scripts in a way [she] never has before". She stated that during a scene, her accent can "naturally wander", since "different words have different emphasis and the accent is actually very personal to Kaneez". On being asked about Kaneez's "colourful version of English", Sarker complimented the writers for "writing the content of Kaneez's words", but affirmed that a lot of Kaneez's comedic dialogue was invented by Sarker herself. Sarker calls the phrases 'Kaneezisms', and referenced a line about the Spice Girls in the first series that caused the "whole room" to laugh, therefore it was implemented into the scipt, since they knew it would have "appeal".[2]

Sarker described the second series of Ackley Bridge as a "liberating series" for Kaneez, stating that her split from husband Iqbal contributed to Kaneez having "found her wings", adding that her character "is trying to fly a little bit now". She stated that Kaneez has had her eyes opened to "life's possibilities", and that the first of these is learning to drive. Sarker stated that since she deems herself a "good driver" in real life, it was "really hard" to play a bad driver. She joked that she would never get into a car with Kaneez, but that despite being bad, Kaneez "thinks she knows it all and should be on Top Gear!"[7] She also noted that the importance of the relationship she has with her children is reflected in the series, stating Kaneez is "a good mother with a sense of humour but also a strict mother with a protective streak".[2]

Shout Out UK described Kaneez as a "matriarch", stating that they were glad to continue seeing her after three series.[8] Viewers have a positive of opinion of Kaneez's humourous nature, with her being described as an "icon" and a "queen of comedy".[9] Dan Seddon of Digital Spy wrote that her scenes have "comic ingenuity", that himself and viewers are "blown away by Kaneez's knee-slapping antics", and joked that a statue of her should be placed at the fictional school.[9] Following the storyline which saw Kaneez's nhibitions about dating Rashid, viewers also praised both the series and the character for Kaneez's more serious scenes, with one describing her as "the feminist icon we need". Dianne Houghton of Digital Spy described the story as a "genuinely moving arc", and praised the character's development, adding that her kiss with Rashid was "one of the most heartwarming onscreen kisses we've seen".[10] At the 2019 Asian Media Awards, Kaneez was nominated for, and eventually won, the award for Best TV Character.[11]