Najiba Faiz

Her father is an Afghan immigrant who migrated to Pakistan in the 1980s.^[5] She grew up mostly in Peshawar, and later moved to Karachi and Islamabad. Faiz started her career with working on a children program "Storee"ستوری, which aired on PTV.^[6] In 2002, she started her acting career with "Rogh Lewani", a Pashto serial, where she played a secretary of Ismail Shahid (Maanay).^[6] The role helped her rise to stardom and served as a launching pad for her career.^[6]

After the launch of the maiden Pashto channel, AVT, in 2004, Najiba Faiz returned to the industry. She hosted programs and acted in various drama serials.^[2] Since then, she has acted in several plays including Sang-e-Mar Mar, which earner her critical praise.^[7] She worked in two other dramas, Mohabbat Khawab Safar and Sangsar which also aired on Hum TV. In Saawan, her role as a grief-stricken mother that fights all odds to reunite with her son was highly praised by critics.^[8][9] Najeeba had a viral moment in the 2017 Pakistan Super League match between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi, where photos and videos of her crying at tense moments of the match were widely shared and talked about on social media.^[10][11]

Najeeba Faiz also worked in Afghanistan for three years. There, apart from acting and hosting many different shows,^[12] she was also the host for the Afghan version of Who wants to be a Millionaire.^[13]