Shabnam Masood
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| EastEnders character | ||||||||||||||
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| Shabnam Masood | ||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Zahra Ahmadi | |||||||||||||
| Created by | Diederick Santer | |||||||||||||
| Duration | 2007— | |||||||||||||
| First appearance | 17 July 2007 | |||||||||||||
| Profile | ||||||||||||||
| Status | Single | |||||||||||||
| Home | 41 Albert Square | |||||||||||||
| Occupation | Post Office worker | |||||||||||||
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Shabnam "Shabs" Masood is a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Zahra Ahmadi.[1] She made her first appearance on 17 July 2007.
Contents |
[edit] Character creation
[edit] Background
Shabnam Masood was one of several Asian characters introduced in 2007 by executive producer, Diederick Santer.[2] She was first seen in July 2007, the episode after the introduction of her mother, Zainab (played by Nina Wadia), who became Walford's new postmistress. An EastEnders source commented: "Shabnam's definitely going to turn heads. She's 21, fresh from university and has no idea what she wants to do with her life. To keep her going, her mum gives her a job at the Post Office."[2] Shabnam appeared intermittently until October 2007, when the Masood family, including Masood Ahmed and Tamwar Masood (Shabnam's father and brother), moved to a property on Albert Square and became regular characters.
The Masoods were the first Muslim family to join the show since the Karims, who appeared between 1987 and 1990, and they were the first Asian family to be introduced since the unsuccessful Ferreira family in 2003. Panned by critics and viewers, the Ferreiras were dismissed as unrealistic by the Asian community in the UK, and were eventually axed in 2005.[3][4]
The introduction of more ethnic minority characters is part of producer Diederick Santer's plan to "diversify", to make EastEnders "feel more 21st century".[5] Prior to 2007, EastEnders was heavily criticised by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), for not representing the East End's real "ethnic make-up". It was suggested that the average proportion of visible minority faces on EastEnders was substantially lower than the actual ethnic minority population in East London boroughs, and it therefore reflected the East End in the 1960s, not the East End of the 2000s. Furthermore, it was suggested that an element of "tokenism" and stereotyping surrounded many of the minority characters in EastEnders.[6] The expansion of minority representation in EastEnders provides "more opportunities for audience identification with its characters, hence a wider appeal."[7] Trevor Phillips, CRE chair, has said: "balanced representation of ethnic minority communities in the media matters. The industry has a key part to play in this, it is a powerful tool and can go a long way towards helping to build an integrated society."[8]
[edit] Casting
Actress Zahra Ahmadi, a graduate from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, was cast as Shabnam. She has commented: "I've watched EastEnders as long as I can remember and I'm really excited to be joining the cast. It was very surreal walking into the Square and seeing all the faces I'd grown up watching. I felt like I knew them".[2] EastEnders executive producer, Diederick Santer, has said "Newcomer Zahra is a real find. She's warm and great fun. I'm confident the Masoods will be a big hit with viewers."[2]
[edit] Storylines
Shabnam is the daughter of Masood Ahmed and Zainab Masood, owner of a chain of Post Offices, including the Walford branch, where Shabnam was given a job, following university.
Shabnam disliked her mother's attitude, and eventual sacking of colleague, Denise Wicks. When Shabnam was stuck at work, she asked for Denise's help against her mother's wishes. Denise helped Minty Peterson when he had a suspected heart attack at the post office. Shabnam was left shaken by the ordeal so Denise covered for her. As a result, a humble Zainab gave her her job back and they became friends.
Shabnam subsequently formed a friendship with Denise's step-daughter, Carly Wicks and single mother, Dawn Swann, who weren't Zainab's ideal choice of friends for her daughter. Zainab disliked Dawn in particular, since she thought that she had pressured Shabnam to babysit her daughter while she went out clubbing. Unknown to her, Shabnam had actually gone clubbing with them. This was eventually found out by her father, who sarcastically told her to be more careful next time. Since this incident, she has been more open about her social life to her mother.
In January 2008 Shabnam started saving, making secret plans to leave Walford and go on a round-the-world trip. However Shabnam learned that her parent's Post Office business was in severe debt, and was persuaded by her brother Tamwar to offer her holiday money to their mother to save the Post Office. Zainab refused the money, but said she would be monitoring Shabnam, and would not tolerate any more lies from her daughter.
In February 2008 Shabnam caused a flood in the Masood family home by leaving the bath running. Mickey Miller offered the Masood family (especially Shabnam) a place to stay while an electrician fixed the flooded house, but Zainab was so rude and nasty to Shabnam that Mickey kicked her out. The Masood's moved back home the next day.
On March 17 2008, Shabnam was told by her mother that a son of an old friend of hers, Jalil Iqbal, was coming to stay. She wasn't pleased to begin with because she remembered him as being a geek. Upon his arrival, Shabnam decided to think otherwise. Zainab organised a meal for the two of them so that they could become closer but that was until Jalil had a phone call from his girlfriend which left Shabnam and Zainab annoyed (though Zainab saw a picture of her and said she was ugly, and that her make-up looked like it had been done by Edward Scissorhands). Shabnam later bumped into Jalil on a night out in R&R, where they flirted. Jalil and Shabnam shared a kiss in R&R on 27 March, but later during a conversation with the Masood family, he said that he thought modern Muslim women like Shabnam provided "great entertainment" but were not marriage material. Zainab was, in her own words, offended at his "arrogance and chauvinism" and she sent him away.
On May 15th Shabnam inadvertedly offended Dawn Swann by suggesting that Dawn's family were chavs. Dawn went home and told Jase and Jay, and in response to this, Jay spray painted on the Masoods wall that Shabnam was a whore. This was the very same day that Shabnam's uncle Inzamam Ahmed visited the Masoods to see how they were coping without his brother. He was very critical of the family, suggesting that Tamwar should be attending Mosque more often, that family standards were slipping, that Zainab had gained weight and that Shabnam should be married at her age. Shabnam became very annoyed but Zainab begged her to keep up pretences to prevent conflict. However, as the Inzamam was leaving the house, Bianca Jackson removed a rug from the wall which was covering the graffiti about Shabnam. Angry and disgusted, Inzamam left speedily in the car.
On May 16th Shabnam got into a heated argument with Zainab, after Zainab had seen Shabnam pole dancing in R&R. Zainab had said that there were many good things she felt for her daughter, but the one thing she did not want to feel was shame. Shabnam refused to listen to her mother, saying that she was British and that is what British people do. She said to her mother that if she wanted her to live the life of a muslim, and marry a muslim man who would order her about, they should have moved to Pakistan not England. Zainab subsequently slapped Shabnam in the face. Zainab then talked of her harrowing story of a girl in Pakistan who fell in love with a boy. People in her family had said that she had bought shame and stopped her from seeing the boy, and locked her in the house. One day Zainab had gone home and found the girl locked in the kitchen burning in a bid for suicide. Zainab did not want such a thing to happen to Shabnam. Shabnam said that after hearing that story, she was unable to feel proud of her culture. She felt that she did not know where she really belonged, and that she wanted her mother to take her to Pakistan one day and help her figure out who she is.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ "'Goodness Gracious Me' actress joins 'EastEnders'", Digital Spy. URL last accessed 2007-05-20.
- ^ a b c d "New Asian family for Eastenders", www.asiansinmedia.org. URL last accessed 2007-10-16.
- ^ "Unrealistic’ Ferreira family dismissed by Asian viewers", The Stage. URL last accessed 2007-10-16.
- ^ "Unrealistic’ EastEnder accuses BBC of discrimination", Digital Spy. URL last accessed 2007-10-16.
- ^ "The art of storytelling", The Guardian. URL last accessed on 2007-03-27.
- ^ "EastEnders hasn't got enough black and Asian actors", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-03-27.
- ^ "EastEnders", www.museum.tv. URL last accessed on 2007-03-27.
- ^ "Coronation Street and EastEnders battle it out for coveted CRE Race In the Media Award", cre.gov.uk. URL last accessed on 2007-03-27.
