MUSICAL MISFITS
A MUSLIM PUNK BAND take the stage in a new C4 comedy celebrating sisterhood
NEW
COMEDY We Are Lady Parts Thursday, C4 HD, 10pm
NEW SIX-PART COMEDY We Are Lady
Parts hits all the right notes when it debuts on C4 this week, as it follows a female Muslim punk band trying to make the big time.
Anjana Vasan plays microbiology student and part-time music teacher Amina Hussain. A born romantic, Amina is on the hunt for a husband, and is more Jane Austen than Patti Smith until she has a run-in with Lady Parts, a wannabe punk band looking for a lead guitarist.
‘Amina is a pretty conventional person, and very far away from punk when we first see her,’ explains Vasan. ‘She’s a lovable oddball. She’s also a little bit lonely, which translates into a preoccupation with finding love.’
In this week’s opening episode, the band’s singer, Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey), is determined to recruit nervous Amina into the band, despite the misgivings of drummer Ayesha (Juliette Motamed) and bassist Bisma (Faith Omole).
Amina only agrees because Ayesha organises a date with her dreamy brother Ahsan (Zaqi Ismail)…
‘It’s a fish-out-of-water situation, but there’s something in Amina that’s actually a lot more punk than she realises,’ says Vasan. ‘Yes, she’s usually listening to all this “white dad music” but she’s also got posters of people who weren’t afraid to speak out, like Pete Seeger, on her wall. Over time, Amina realises there’s an affinity there. It’s a comedy that’s chaotic, fun and a bit bonkers, but there’s so much heart.’
All the cast have a musical background, though the actors couldn’t initially play the instruments that they perform on the show.
CHALLENGE
‘I play acoustic but had never played electric guitar before, which was a nice parallel with Amina’s journey,’ says Vasan. ‘Juliette plays guitar but had never played drums. Faith and Sarah are both incredible singers, but hadn’t played guitar and bass. So it was an exciting challenge for us to learn a new skill.’
The band’s original songs – including Honour Kill and Bashir
with a Good Beard – were written by the show’s creator and director, Nida Manzoor, with her siblings Sanya, Benni and
Shez.
‘Elements of the series are autobiographical, especially Amina and Saira’s characters,’ says Manzoor. ‘Amina is probably closer to my own musical loves as a girl – musicians like Don Mclean and Paul Simon – but my sister was really into punk and would bring me to gigs.
‘Part of me was writing the series for my younger self. The first day I saw the whole band together rehearsing was emotional, because they were absolutely inhabiting the characters and bringing their own energies to it. I think the younger me would be pretty chuffed.’