Rimsha Sayyed
The Road to Guantanamo, Shifty, Four Lions, Trishna, III Manors and Nightcrawler are just some of the movies Riz Ahmed is best known for. He was in the center of the fifth Jason Bourne instalment and is set to be in the new Star Wars film. Riz is more than what his movies portray. He is an outspoken British Muslim who is quickly emerging into showbiz. While growing up, Riz Ahmed felt the need to qualify himself by saying “I am British Pakistani.” He soon realized that he doesn’t need to do that anymore because as he put it — “This is what British looks like, it looks like me and it looks like Idris Elba.”
WIth his his new series “The Night Of”, Ahmed hopes to redefine what British people and Americans can look like. In this series he plays Pakistani American young man by the name of Nasir Khan who lives in Queens, New York and gets himself into a difficult situation.
Ahmed speaks about politics and the nature of the world in a manner that exceeds others. He is able to talk about the differences between the lives of British and American Muslim. His hilarious ability to discuss secondary airport checks among other things bring light and relatability to the next generation of muslims and youth in general. Riz is quickly becoming a role model not only for the youth but everyone else too — Muslim and non-Muslims alike.
When he is not busy filming a movie, giving an interview or attending a film festival, Ahmed can likely be found in the studio recording for his next rap as MC Riz. Through his raps, MC Riz poetically discusses the issues of “Post 9/11 Blues” and “People like People.” He has recently finished his second studio album titled “Cashmere” and has rapped with people like Plan B, Heems and Childish Gambino. Riz Ahmed is quickly becoming one the most influential and known Muslim actors today.
