Manjinder Virk

Manjinder Virk is a British actress, director and writer. She has appeared in the television series Holby City (1999), Doctors (2000), The Bill (2004), The Ghost Squad (2005), Runaway (2009), Skins (2010), Monroe (2011), Hunted (2012) and Midsomer Murders (2016 –2018).

Manjinder Virk
Virk in Out of Darkness, 2012 short film
Born
Coventry, England
NationalityBritish[1]
Alma materDe Montfort University
Occupation(s)Actress, director, writer
Spouse
​
(m. 2007)​

She has also written and directed the short films Forgive (2008) and Out of Darkness (2013), the latter of which she won Best of Fest award at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival.

Early life

Virk was born in Coventry, England. Her mother's name is Jasvir, who is of Indian origin.[2] She comes from a family of three children.[3]

She began acting at the Belgrade Youth Theatre in Coventry and went on to become artistic director of Pangram Dance Theatre with her brother, Hardish.[2][3] She went on to earn a degree in contemporary dance at De Montfort University in Leicester.

Career

In 1999, Virk started off on the British TV series Holby City, which was just the beginning of her television career. She later appeared in three separate episodes of the TV soap opera Doctors, first in 2000 as Karen Slater, again in 2004 as Laila Khalid and in 2007 playing Harpit Jindal. She played Nasima Wahid in 2007's Britz and portrayed Lorraine Dunbar in the 2010 documentary The Arbor. For the latter, she earned three nominations: Best Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival Awards and Best Actress and Newcomer at the BIFA Awards. She also had a small recurring role on the British medical drama show Monroe, recently appeared on the new BBC One show Hunted and has a recurring role on Midsomer Murders.

In 2003, she wrote a play for a show for touring company Theatre Centre titled Glow.[4] In 2008, Virk wrote and directed the short film Forgive starring Sacha Dhawan and Abdi Gouhad.[5] In 2012, she wrote and directed another short called Out of Darkness starring Tom Hiddleston, Monica Dolan, Andrew Gower, Jimmy Akingbola, Christine Bottomley and Riz Ahmed.

In 2022 she appeared as DI Samira Desai in the thriller series Trigger Point alongside Vicky McClure

Personal life

She met husband Neil Biswas on the set of the TV drama Bradford riots in 2007.[2] As of 2013, she and her husband live in Brixton, South London.[6]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1999 Holby City Junior Nurse TV series (1 episode: "Staying Alive: Part 2")
2000 Doctors Karen Slater TV series (1 episode: "Game Over")
2003 Ready When You Are, Mr. McGill Sue TV film
2003 Two Minutes Ruby Short
2004 The Bill Khadija Miah TV series (4 episodes)
2004 Doctors Laila Khalid TV series (1 episode: "Moving On")
2004 Swiss Toni Jenny TV series
2004 Green Wing Theatre Nurse TV series (1 episode: "Tangled Webs")
2005 Child of Mine WPC TV film
2005 The Ghost Squad WPC Shareen Charan TV series (1 episode: "Colour Blind")
2006 Bradford Riots Shazia TV film
2006 Orange People Amber Short
2007 World of Wrestling Princess Short
2007 Doctors Harpit Jindal TV series (1 episode: "Wings and Needles")
2007 Comedy Showcase News Reporter TV series (1 episode: "Plus One")
2007 Britz Nasima Wahid TV film
2007 Famous Last Words TV short
2008 The Blue Tower Asha
2009 Runaway PC Brinkley TV series (2 episodes)
2010 Skins Doctor Berg TV series (1 episode: "Katie")
2010 The Arbor Lorraine Dunbar Documentary
2011 Lost Paradise Ismat Short
2011 Monroe Sally Fortune TV series (6 episodes)
2012 The Thick of It Journalist 1 TV series (1 episode)
2012 Hunted Simran Baines TV series (4 episodes)
2012 Broken Eternity Woman Short
2013 Out of Darkness Female Short; also writer, director and producer
2014 Checkpost Ria Short
2015 Call the Midwife Ameera Khatun TV series (Episode #4.5)
2015 History's Future Phoebe Post-production
2015 Ordinary Lies Marianne TV series
2016–2018 Midsomer Murders Dr Kam Karimore Series 18–19
2017 Bad Move Meena TV series (6 episodes)
2022 Trigger Point (TV_series) DI Samira Desai TV series (6 episodes)

Awards and nominations

Virk was nominated in 2010 for Best Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival Awards and Best Actress and Newcomer at the BIFA Awards,[7][8] both for her role in The Arbor. She was one of the UK Stars of Tomorrow in Screen International in 2007.[2] She was also nominated for Asian Woman of Achievement Award in 2008.[9]

In 2013, for her short film Out of Darkness, Virk won Best of Fest award at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival.[10]

References
  1. Virk, Manjinder (12 March 2008). "The idea that women should disappear when they hit old age is one of the last myths. Ask my mum". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  2. McMullen, Marion (14 March 2011). "Coventry's head girl Manjinder Virk in TV's Monroe". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  3. "TV recreation of tense chapter in social history". Coventry Telegraph. 27 April 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  4. "Glow :: Shows :: Theatre Centre". Theatre Centre. 2003. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  5. "Britz – Pushing The Boundaries". The Asian Today. 8 October 2007. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  6. Tom Seymour (16 October 2013). "LFF 2013 Spotlight: Out Of Darkness". Little White Lies. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  7. "Ones To Watch – Manjinder Virk". Clash Music. 4 June 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  8. "The Moet British Independent Film Awards". The Daily Telegraph.
  9. "Asian Women of Achievement Award Winners 2008". Red Hot Curry. 20 May 2008. Archived from the original on 8 November 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  10. Charles Hutchinson (21 November 2013). "Aesthetica Short Film Festival chalks up a record year". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
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