“It seemed as though I hadn’t left at all.” That’s how Zeedan Nazir actor Qasim Akhtar describes his return to Coronation Street after a three-year hiatus.
“I was nervous and anxious before I started on that first day,” he recalls.
“Even though I was stepping back into a familiar environment, it seemed like I was starting a new career. But after only five minutes back on set, I felt like I’d returned home.
“Everyone claimed it was as if I hadn’t been gone at all. That’s exactly what I had hoped for.”
While Akhtar has relished his return to the cobblestones, the reappearance of his alter ego Zeedan has been considerably less pleasant.
According to the actor, his character’s return “brings turmoil to the Street.”
Zeedan is Alya’s (Sair Khan) brother and Yasmeen’s (Shelley King) grandchild, who spent the last few years in the seven circles of hell at the hands of her cruel late husband Geoff (Ian Bartholomew).
When Zeedan initially returns to Weatherfield from his life as an ostensibly successful businessman in London, says Akhtar, who has also featured in Shameless, Waterloo Road, and Young Dracula, he does not realise the magnitude of his grandmother’s suffering.
“He understands everything that has happened, but I don’t believe he realises just how horrible it was and how much it has damaged her.”
“He is unaware of the gravity of the events that have occurred. He’s been engrossed in his own life, striving to make his life and his business a success.”
“He is now starting to see just how awful it has been for the family,” the 29-year-old actor says.
“Alya reminds him of this, saying he had no clue what it was like for them.
“He’s been told flat out that he can’t come throwing his weight around after everything they’ve been through while he’s been gone.”
Zeedan has reappeared as the hero, flashing money around.
Alya, on the other hand, understands how her brother thinks and is wary of his showy behaviour.
According to Akhtar, she has every right to be sceptical.
“Definitely. He’s being really cautious. He keeps her in the dark about the source of the funds.
“However, she knows her brother well enough not to believe him or what he says. He’s being the big brother I am, but she’s the elder sister, and she knows who he was in the past and what kind of man he was.”
When it becomes clear that Zeedan is on the run from some unsavoury persons, the tale takes a turn for the worst. When he gets brutally attacked outside Speed Daal, he tries to pin the crime on Alya’s ex Ryan (Ryan Prescott), with whom he had previously clashed.
Zeedan’s motivation for doing so is explained by the actor.
“All he cares about is his grandmother and sister finding out that he hasn’t been completely honest about the money and how he got it.
“He’s only trying to buy himself some more time,” says the narrator. He wants the focus to be diverted away from the true reason he was attacked.
“He simply views Ryan as an opportunity. It’s the best method to divert the truth since he had an argument with him literally immediately before the attack.”
But Zeedan’s situation – and, by inference, Yasmeen and Alya’s – is only going to grow worse.
“He has crossed the wrong people and gotten on the bad side of someone who is quite a big fish,” adds Akhtar, “so he will be causing problems on the street, and Yasmeen and Alya will find themselves in the middle of it with him.”
“That is what attracted to me about coming back,” Akhtar says. It’s a different Zeedan this time.
“He was a victim the first time around, and the experiences he had have hardened him a little. (Zeedan’s wife Rana abandoned him for Kate Connor and perished in the factory fire.)
“I suppose he went abroad as a boy and returned as a man.”
The actor expresses his delight at being able to stroll the cobblestones once more.
“I’m thrilled to be back and to dive into an exciting tale that I believe the audience will like.
“Zeedan has once again gotten himself into trouble, and I hope everyone tuned in to watch the chaos unfold.”
