Ahmed Ali Akbar
Ahmed Ali Akbar | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Relatives | Abid Ali Akbar (brother) |
Ahmed Ali Akbar (Urdu: احمد علی اکبر) is a Pakistani actor who primarily works in Urdu television. He marked his television debut in 1999 at the age of thirteen in PTV's drama Stop Watch. He guest-starred in the 2013 drama film Siyaah and started his professional acting career in 2014, since then he has appeared in several television series.[1] Akbar is best known for playing the titular character Parizaad in Hum TV's biggest hit Parizaad in 2021 for which he won several awards including Hum Awards for Best Actor - Popular. His other notable works include Yeh Raha Dil (2017) and Ehd- e-Wafa (2019).[2][3][4]
Early life
Ahmed was born into a Punjabi family in Rawalpindi to tennis coach Muhammad Ali Akbar.[5][6] His brother Abid Ali Akbar is a tennis player.[7]
He claims to have played tennis on a national level before pursuing a career in entertainment.[8] He also played cricket and football at club level.[5] At one point, he wanted to pursue professional cricket but abandoned the option because of nepotism.[5][9]
Career
Early work as child artist, musician and theater actor
He marked his television career at the age of thirteen on PTV's drama Stop Watch, after which he was singing for a progressive rock band, the Islamabad-based Nafs, for some ten years before returning to acting on some friend's advice, in a play written by Osman Khalid Butt.[10]
Ali made his stage debut in 2008 and received critical appraisal for his work.[11]
Film debut and television success
He guest starred in his 2013 debut film Siyaah and started his professional television career in 2014, as a lead actor in the drama Shehr-e-Ajnabi.[12]
He then grabbed one of the leading roles in Parchi, in 2018, which was well received at the box-office. He also directed the stunts for the film.[13]
In 2019, he starred in Laal Kabootar, a crime-thriller movie set in Karachi, which is also music video director Kamal Khan's first feature film, sharing the screen with Mansha Pasha and Ali Kazmi, and which was well received by the critics.[14] The same year he also worked in the hit drama serial Ehd-e-Wafa which was ISPR's presentation and aired on PTV Home and Hum TV.[15]
In 2021, he was the lead role in Parizaad, earning critical acclaim for his acting and winning several awards, including Hum Awards for Best Actor - Popular.[16]
Host
He hosted the first Hum Style Awards in 2016.[17][18] He then hosted the Hum Style Awards in 2018 alongside musician Asim Azhar[19] and was a co-host of the 9th Hum Awards in 2024.
Filmography
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Siyaah | Faadi | Azfar Jafri | Cameo appearance | |
| 2015 | Karachi se Lahore | Sam | Wajahat Rauf | ||
| 2016 | Ho Mann Jahan | Himself | Asim Raza | Cameo appearance | |
| Lahore Se Aagey | Sam | Wajahat Rauf | |||
| 2018 | Parchi | Saqlain | Azfar Jafri | Also the stunt director | [13] |
| 2019 | Laal Kabootar | Adeel Nawaz | Kamal Khan | [20] | |
| Heer Maan Ja | Policeman | Azfar Jafri | Special appearance | ||
| 2023 | Gunjal | Shahbaz Bhatti | Shoaib Sultan |
Television series
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Network | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Stop Watch | N/a | PTV | Debut | ||
| 2013 | Burka Avenger | Peon | Haroon | Geo Tez | Voice Role | |
| 2014 | Shehr-e-Ajnabi | Haris | A Plus | |||
| Dusri Bivi | Aamir | Anjum Shahzad | ARY Digital | |||
| 2015 | Ishq Parast | Hamza | Badar Mehmood | |||
| Guzaarish | Zain | Owais Khan | ||||
| Nazo | Habeel | Aabis Raza | Urdu 1 | |||
| Paiwand | Hassam | ARY Digital | ||||
| 2016 | Mera Yaar Miladay | Fahad | Anjum Shahzad | |||
| 2017 | Munkir | Gulraiz | TV One | |||
| Yeh Raha Dil | Zaki Haroon Baig | Siraj-ul-Haque | Hum TV | |||
| Phir Wohi Mohabbat | Waleed | Mohsin Mirza | ||||
| 2018 | Tajdeed e Wafa | Arsal | Ilyas Kashmiri | |||
| 2019 | Ehd E Wafa | Shahryar "Sherry" Afzal | Saife Hassan | Hum TV PTV Home |
||
| 2021 | Parizaad | Parizaad Mir | Shahzad Kashmiri | Hum TV | ||
| 2023 | Idiot | Gulzar | Anjum Shahzad | Green Entertainment | ||
| 2024 | Nadaan | Haider Khan | Mehreen Jabbar | Hum TV | Mini Series | [21] |
| Faraar | Fasih | Syed Wajahat Hussain / Musadiq Malik | Green Entertainment | [22] | ||
| 2025 | Sanwal Yaar Piya | Sanwal | Danish Nawaz | Geo Entertainment | ||
| 2026 | Hurmat † | TBA | Hum TV | [23] |
Theatre
| Year | Play | Role | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Taming of the Shrew | Tranio | [24] |
| 2014 | Grease | Danny Zuko | [25] |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 6th Hum Awards | Best On-Screen Couple - Popular (with Yumna Zaidi) | Yeh Raha Dil | Nominated | [16] |
| 2020 | 19th Lux Style Awards | Best Film Actor | Laal Kabootar | Won | [26] |
| South Asian Film Festival | Best Actor | Won | |||
| 2022 | 8th Hum Awards | Best Actor - Jury | Parizaad | Won | [27] |
| Best Actor - Popular | Won | [28] | |||
| Best On-Screen Couple - Jury (with Yumna Zaidi) | Nominated | [27] | |||
| Best On-Screen Couple - Popular (with Yumna Zaidi) | Nominated | [28] | |||
| 21st Lux Style Awards | Best TV Actor (Critics Choice) | Won | [29] | ||
| Best TV Actor (Viewers' Choice) | Nominated | ||||
| 2024 | 23rd Lux Style Awards | Best Film Actor | Gunjal | Nominated |
References
- ^ Sarym, Ahmed. "Ahmed Ali returns to the big screen". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ^ "Ahmed Ali Akbar Drama List – Ahmed Ali Akbar – Logicalbaat.com". LogicalBaat a home for News & Entertainment. 8 May 2020. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ "Ahmed Ali Akbar – Biography & Dramas List". Dramas Planet. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ "Ahmed Ali Akbar". IMDb. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ a b c "Ahmed Ali Akbar bags award at Washington DC film festival". Daily Times. 26 September 2019. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019.
Ahmed Ali Akbar was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He is the son of legendary Pakistani tennis coach Muhammad Ali Akbar. Moreover, Ali played tennis on a national level before proceeding to his film and television career. Besides tennis, he also played cricket and football at club level. According to our sources, at one point in his life, he desired to play into professional cricket but dropped the prospect because of nepotism and favouring.
- ^ "Talent focus: Ahmed Ali Akbar; Actor and Phenomenon in the Making – The Kollective". The Kollective. 13 December 2017. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Abid Akbar - Men's Tennis Coach". University of Idaho Athletics.
- ^ Sarym, Ahmed (11 May 2017). "Ahmed Ali returns to the big screen". The News International. Archived from the original on 14 January 2026.
Not many people know that Ahmed Ali was a national level tennis player before he made a leap into the entertainment industry as not only an actor, but also a musician.
- ^ Rehman, Maliha (29 March 2019). "We thought we knew Ahmed Ali Akbar and Mansha Pasha. Laal Kabootar proved us wrong". dawn.com. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ Rifaat, Haider (3 January 2018). "Up close and personal with Parchi's Ahmed Ali Akbar: "You cannot pull people down if they are more talented than you; you have to push them up"". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023.
- ^ Khan, Manal Faheem. "There's a new Ahmed Ali on the block!". Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "An actor and a gentleman ‹ The Friday Times". The Friday Times. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Ahmed Ali Akbar; the man behind Parchi's action packed stunts!". HIP. 21 September 2017. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ Khan, Saira (25 November 2018). "'Shooting for Laal Kabootar was one of the best experience I have had' says Ahmed Ali Akbar". HIP. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ "Ehd E Wafa". hum.tv. 17 October 2019. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Hum Awards 2018: All the winners". Daily Times. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Quraishi, Faisal (30 October 2016). "Style awards recognise excellence in various fields". Dawn. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ^ "'Razzle Dazzle' at the first Hum Style Awards | Instep | thenews.com.pk". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ^ DailyTimes.pk (2 September 2018). "A night of glamour, stylish stars and lots of dance performances". Daily Times. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
Hosts Ahmed Ali Akbar and Asim Azhar hosted the awards night (...)
- ^ NewsBytes. "Ahmed Ali Akbar bags Best Actor award at Washington DCSAFF 2019". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
- ^ "Ahmed Ali Akbar and Ramsha Khan to star in upcoming mega drama on Hum TV – Details". Reviewit.pk. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ "Alif stars Hamza Ali Abbasi and Sajal Aly rumoured to Reunite for new drama Faraar". The Express Tribune. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Saba Qamar drops hints about exciting new project amidst 'Muamma' buzz". jang.com.pk. 23 December 2025. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ Syed Abbas Hussain ( 6–12 July 2012), "Tour de force", The Friday Times. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ Hasan, Mehreen (2 February 2014). "Musical thriller: It's Grease alright but stops a tad short of lightning - Instep". thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ "https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/495568-who-won-at-the-mega-lux-style-awrds-2019" (18)
- ^ a b "8th Hum Awards Winner List: Parizaad wins big, bagqing 9 awards in various categories". OyeYeah. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
- ^ a b "8th Hum Awards Complete Winners List". ReviewIt. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- ^ "LSA 2022: And the nominees are..." The Express Tribune. 23 November 2022.