Aamina Sheikh

She is an ethnic Sindhi. Sheikh married actor Mohib Mirza in Karachi in 2005.^[1] Mirza and Sheikh met on the set of a show which Mirza was hosting and she was directing.^[2] In an interview to Jang, Mirza revealed he had a difficult time convincing Sheikh's father to accept his plans for marriage.^[2] Mirza and Sheikh have a daughter, Meissa, born in 2015. The couple announced their separation in 2018^[2][3] and divorced in 2019.^[4] Sheikh remarried to a businessman, Omer Farooqi, in August 2020, and the couple have a son, named Issa, born in 2021.^[4]

After returning to Pakistan, Sheikh landed a job with Geo Entertainment, where she directed and produced the children talk show, called Bachey Man Ke Sachey.^[5] In 2007, Sheikh made her on-screen debut in Sharjil Baloch and Khalid Ahmed's telefilm, Gurmukh Singh ki Waseeyat. It was based on Saadat Hassan Manto's short story, The Will of Gurmukh Singh.^[6] Centered on the events after the partition of India, Sheikh played Sughra, the member of a traumatised family who have left alone in a predominantly Sikh neighborhood.^[7] She subsequently garnered international recognition as a spokesperson for the French beauty brand L'Oreal.^[8][9]

In 2008, Sheikh appeared in three major telefilms: Aasmaan Chu Lay, Pachees Qadam Pe Maut and Baarish Mein Deewar.^[10][11] Sheikh played a rickshaw driver who's determined to become the sole breadwinner of the family, in Syed Ali Raza Usama's "Aasmaan Chu Lay". Sheikh had to learn and drive a rickshaw on Karachi's busiest M. A. Jinnah Road and Garden Area, with a massive camera attached to it and had to attract real passengers.^[12] In the same year, Sheikh made her runaway debut with Rehana Saigol's fashion show.^[5][13] She has done extensive print work for fashion designers, such as Deepak Perwani, Amir Adnan, Nomi Ansari, Niche Lifestyle, Khaadi, Teejays, The Men's Store, Fahad Hussayn, Hang Ten, Maheen Khan, Umbereen Sharmeen, Chinyere, Crossroads and Limited Edition. In the following year, she did her second photoshoot for Niche Lifestyle, with Atif Aslam.^[14] Her appeared in the romantic series Agar Tum Na Hote in 2009. In 2010, Sheikh returned to telefilms depicted the titular role of an enthusiastic athlete based on Naseem Hameed in the biographical-drama Bhaag Amina Bhaag.^[7]

In 2012, Sheikh played the titular religiously inclined lower middle-class girl who eventually becomes a famous singer in the drama Umm-e-Kulsoom. Sheikh was praised for her performance, and received a nomination of Best TV Actress - Satellite at the 11th Lux Style Awards.^[15] In 2013, she played the lead in the drama Kuch Is Tarah. The performance earned her a nomination of Best TV Actress - Terrestrial at the 13th Lux Style Awards.^[16] She achieved further critical and commercial success for her role of portrayal of Zarnab, in the romance Armaan (2013), which earned her a nomination for the Tarang Housefull Award for Best Actress.^[8]

In 2011, Sheikh played the role of a grieving mother in Summer Nicks-produced multi award-winning feature film Seedlings and went on to win New York Film Festival Award for Best Actress and SAARC Film Festival Award for Best Actress. She then went on to play the lead in Iram Parveen Bilal's feature art film Josh: Independence Through Unity, before taking on the role of Natasha in the high-octane action spy thriller, 021, produced by Zeba Bakhtiar and directed by Australian filmmaker, Summer Nicks.^[17] In 2013, Sheikh was awarded Miss Photogenic Award at the Veet Celebration of Beauty Awards.

In 2016, she played the titular submissive painter housewife in the drama Pakeezah.^[18] Due to the unoriginality of the role and the fear of typecasting, Sheikh was initially hesitant to take it and expressed feeling pressured to fulfill others' expectations rather than pursuing her own artistic aspirations.^[19]

In 2018, she starred in Asim Abbasi's drama film Cake, alongside Sanam Saeed, which was a major critical and commercial success.^[20][21] While praising her performance, along with Saeed's, The Guardian wrote that they, "rank first among equals in an assured ensemble.",^[22] while, The Daily Times-based reviewer found that she "amalgamated Zarine’s character really well and made it look believable on screen."^[23] The film earned her a Best Actress nomination at the Lux Style Awards.^{[24][25][26][27]}

In 2025, Khan returned to television with the portrayal of an upright and talented lawyer of a rape survivor in the crime-drama Case No. 9.^[28]

• List of Pakistani actresses