Episode 303: Zarqa Nawaz and Aliza Vellani

The YVR Screen Scene Podcast

Zarqa Nawaz is a writer, film and television producer, published author, public speaker, journalist, creator of Little Mosque on the Prairie, former broadcaster, and star of Zarqa, the CBC Gem comedy series in which she plays a woman named Zarqa, who sells gullible white people brown people things. In season one, a recently divorced Zarqa worked on her business while being pursued by a gaggle of men, ending in a fantastic brawl in the mosque between her ex, her imam, and her white brain surgeon boyfriend. Season two – which hit CBC Gem last fall – began with Zarqa choosing to focus on herself and her business instead of any of the men. Zarqa’s pinning all of her hopes on her new product, Love Masala, an intoxicating new scent and love potion from her company, Zarqish Delights. And what better way to reach the masses than with an endorsement from global brand ambassador Pious Pinky Pervez, a Muslim social media influencer with millions of followers played with pious pink perfection by friend of the podcast Aliza Vellani? Aliza portrayed Layla on Little Mosque on the Prairie, and so Zarqa is something of a reunion between Zarqa and Aliza, except this time, they’re on the same side of the camera. In this compelling conversation with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Zarqa and Aliza reflect on Little Mosque on the Prairie, their experience shooting Zarqa more than a decade later, what diversity and representation looks like in the comedy sphere, and Zarqa’s adventures in stand-up comedy. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA