Amira Shah
| Amira Masood | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||||||
| EastEnders character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Preeya Kalidas | ||||||||
| Duration | 2009–2012 | ||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 3784 7 May 2009 |
||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 4530 12 November 2012 |
||||||||
| Introduced by |
Diederick Santer (2009) Bryan Kirkwood (2011) Lorraine Newman (2012) |
||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Other names | Amira Shah (maiden name) | ||||||||
| Occupation | Caterer Beautician Market stall holder |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Father | Qadim Shah |
|---|---|
| Mother | Shahana Shah |
| Husband | Syed Masood (2010–2012) |
| Daughters | Yasmin Masood |
Amira Masood (also Shah) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Preeya Kalidas. The girlfriend, and later wife, of Syed Masood (Marc Elliott), Amira first appeared on screen in the episode broadcast on 7 May 2009. The character was described as high maintenance, lonely and insecure. Amira and Syed's wedding on 1 January 2010 was watched by an average of 11.64 million viewers. Kalidas quit the show in January 2010 to concentrate on a career in music, filming her final scenes in March 2010. Her final episode was broadcast on 26 April 2010, after Amira discovered that her husband was gay and had been having an affair with Christian Clarke (John Partridge). She returned on EastEnders on 10 October 2011, but appeared in two extra scenes available on BBC Online and BBC Red Button called Amira's Secret, on 6 and 8 September 2011. The character departed on 8 March 2012. On 11 September 2012, it was confirmed that Kalidas would return to play Amira once more in a brief guest appearance, in the buildup to the permanent departure of Syed and Christian from the show. She returned on 6 November 2012, and departed once more on 12 November 2012.
Amira's backstory was revealed in an interview with Kalidas: "Amira doesn't have a mother, as she died when she was really young. She lives with her father, who's a big businessman — she met Syed through him. Her dad works in property, so Amira comes from wealth. One day her father just disappears, so she has no one else and her house is repossessed. She only has her clothes."
Amira is the girlfriend of Syed Masood (Marc Elliott), the son of established characters Masood Ahmed (Nitin Ganatra) and Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia). She arrives when Zainab invites her for dinner. Syed's brother Tamwar (Himesh Patel) reveals to Amira that Syed is not as successful as she believes. She insults the family and Masood asks her to leave, and her relationship with Syed ends. She returns a month later to meet Syed in the park, and they talk until he becomes suspicious of her. The next day she arrives unexpectedly, claiming her father Qadim (Ramon Tikaram) has disappeared and she is homeless. Syed attempts to hide her upstairs but her presence is soon known throughout the family. She then rents a room in a nearby flat. Still trying to get into Zainab's good books, Amira takes over at Bushra Abbasi's (Pooja Ghai) event and sings beautifully to the guests. She begins to get to know Albert Square and its residents, and gets a job at Tanya Branning's (Jo Joyner) beauty salon.
...
Wikipedia