Career
Her most recent and best-known role is in Waterloo Road starring as Jasmine Koreshi. Shabana Akhtar Bakhsh made her acting debut in River City as Zara Malik, who moved to Aberdeen. Her parents are of Pakistani origin.
She went on to appear in Ken Loach"s Ae Fond Kiss.
She became a regular in Doctors as Tasha Verma, who is also a past character. She currently lives in Glasgow.
In 2009 travelled around Scottish schools with Technical Architecture Group theatre company in the production "Yellow Moon", a play by David Greig, where she plays the character Silent Leila. She has been an outspoken critic of the British Broadcasting Corporation, saying that they are afraid to write for ethnic minorities.
She has also campaigned for women"s rights in the Asian community.