Ace Bhatti

Ahsen Rafiq "Ace" Bhatti is a British actor. Early in his career, he appeared in the BBC series Cardiac Arrest (1994–1995), Holding On, NCS: Manhunt (2001–2002), and New Street Law (2006–2007), as well as the ITV series Cold Blood (2005–2008). He had a recurring role in the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures (2008–2011) and played Yusef Khan in the soap opera EastEnders (2010–2011).

Early life and education Bhatti was born in Nottingham. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career Bhatti began acting at age fourteen starring in the children series Dramarama, however it wasn't until the nineties until he furthered his career, for which he appeared in the British soap opera Family Pride, Band of Gold, Holding On, and most notably as Dr Rajesh Rajah in Cardiac Arrest, among many other television roles during this time. In 2002, Bhatti made a brief appearance in Bend It Like Beckham, played the central character Dave in BBC Three's dark comedy Grease Monkeys (2003), and played flashy Ash Aslan in 2006's New Street Law. In 2007, he took on a minor role for two episodes in the first series of Secret Diary of a Call Girl as Ashok, a regular client of the main character, Belle. He reappeared in 2010 in the same role. In 2008, Bhatti appeared as a supporting character in the second series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, and reprised his role for the third series in 2009, the fourth series in 2010 and in the fifth series in 2011. Although credited in his early career by his birth name Ahsen Bhatti, Bhatti changed his professional name to Ace Bhatti (Ace is a childhood nickname). In 2011, he played Commander Khokar in the BBC2 series The Shadow Line.

In April 2013, Bhatti became a patron of Theatre Royal Wakefield. In 2018, he played Freddie Mercury's father Bomi Bulsara in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.

EastEnders In 2010, Bhatti was cast as Yusef Khan, the father of already established character Afia Masood (Meryl Fernandes). Bhatti was already known to EastEnders executive producer Bryan Kirkwood when he auditioned for the part, as Kirkwood and Bhatti worked on Coronation Street at the same time. Bhatti was the only actor who auditioned for the part of Yusef. In fact, Wadia recommended Bhatti to Kirkwood to play Yusef, as she "thought that he definitely had the quality that Yusef would need—which is a very ambiguous but charming quality!" Bhatti explained to Digital Spy that the EastEnders cast are very welcoming. He explained: "They're so welcoming. There's a lot of joking about. I'm having a great time at EastEnders - it's a real privilege to be here. I've known Nitin and Nina Wadia, who plays Zainab, for a very long time and we've always got on very well. Nitin and I play tense scenes together so it's nice that we can have a laugh afterwards." He featured in a domestic violence storyline in late 2011 with co-star Nina Wadia who plays Yusef's wife Zainab. Yusef starts to abuse Zainab both physically and mentally. He forbids Zainab to leave the house and later starts using her son, Kamil, to control her. Wadia explains that she wants the storyline to have a positive impact against real-life violence. She told BBC News: "I think the idea behind showing a strong woman like Zainab changing like this is to show that it can happen to even the strongest of women. They can change and they can be manipulated - especially if they're isolated from their friends and family. The manipulator can take advantage, so it's to prove that it can even happen to people like her. To be honest, if even one woman rings that Action Line at the end of the show and there's some difference made to her life, I'll feel like we've done our job," she continued. "It is a serious issue and I'm glad it's being highlighted. I hope that it wakes anyone up - not just women, I know that there are abused men out there as well. So if it gives anyone the strength to leave a relationship like that, we'll have done our job." The scenes where Yusef refused to let Zainab see Kamil pulled in 8.69m viewers at 7.30pm. BBC Three's repeat of the episode later secured 994k viewers at 10pm.

Filmography Film

Year Title Role Notes 1995 Brothers in Trouble Irshad 1997 Sixth Happiness Cyrus 2002 Bend It Like Beckham Nairobi Grandson 2004 The Secret of Year Six Abdul Short film 2009 Wish 143 Consultant Short film 2010 It's a Wonderful Afterlife Tej My Lad Aziz Short film 2015 Amar Akbar & Tony Doctor Kumar 2018 The Academy Rayner Short film Free Dance Ravi aka High Strung Free Dance Bohemian Rhapsody Bomi Bulsara 2019 Break Clause Kadir 2022 We've Only Just Begun Goldie Short film 2023 Runs in the Family Varun Chetty Alfred Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 1984 Dramarama Eddie Episode 2.8: "Josephine Jo" 1991–1992 Family Pride Suresh Unknown episodes 1993 The Bill Rajik Patel Episode 9.44: "Bedfellows" 1994 Finney McDade's Minder 4 episodes 1994–1996 Cardiac Arrest Dr. Rajesh Rajah Series 1–3; 27 episodes 1995 The Ghostbusters of East Finchley DI Cunliffe 2 episodes The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Treasure of the Peacock's Eye Indian Lieutenant Television film 1995–1996 Band of Gold Dez 5 episodes 1997 The Bill Salman Malik Series 13; 2 episodes: "Shades of Grey: Parts 1 & 2" Holding On Zahid Mini-series; 8 episodes 1998 Verdict Sanjay Mehta, QC Episode 1.3: "The Doctor's Opinion" 1999 Cleopatra Sceptical Citizen Mini-series; 2 episodes Grafters Tom Series 2; 5 episodes Last Christmas Doctor Television film 2000 Peak Practice Specialist Episode 9.6: "Once Too Often" Harbour Lights Ramesh Episode 2.5: "Storm Damage" Silent Witness DCI Ranjeet Naval Series 5; 2 episodes: "The World Cruise: Parts 1 & 2" Urban Gothic Jim Takeshi Episode 1.4: "Sum of the Parts" 2001 Dalziel and Pascoe Ravi Ghataura Episode 6.2: "Home Truths" Love or Money Ali Television film 2001-2002 NCS: Manhunt DC Johnny Khan 8 episodes 2002 Holby City Nick Woods Episode 4.41: "From This Moment On" 2003 The Second Coming Peter Gupta Mini-series; 2 episodes Emmerdale Bobby Khan 2 episodes 2003–2004 Grease Monkeys Dave Dhillon Series 1 & 2; 20 episodes 2004 The Deputy Nickhall Gangwani Television film Bodies Rajesh Rajah 2 episodes 2004–2006 Coronation Street Jayesh Parekh 12 episodes 2005 Ultimate Force Handsome Episode 3.3: "Class of 1980" Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee Deepak Mini-series; 3 episodes Holby City Andy Fishman Recurring role; 3 episodes 2005–2008 Cold Blood DC Ajay Roychowdury Series 1 & 2; 5 episodes 2006 Bradford Riots Faisal Television film Blue Murder Saadiq Aziz Episode 3.3: "The Spartacus Thing" Goldplated Haq 4 episodes 2006–2007 New Street Law Ash Aslan Series 1 & 2; 10 episodes 2007 Casualty Andy Fishman Episode 22.3: "Meltdown" Frankenstein Dr. Dhillon Television film 2007–2008 Secret Diary of a Call Girl Ashok Recurring role; 3 episodes 2008 Kiss of Death Miles Trueman Television film The Bill Sunil Davdra Series 24; 2 episodes 2008–2011 The Sarah Jane Adventures Haresh Chandra Series 2–5; 24 episodes 2009 Casualty Rafiq Episode 23.29: "Shields" New Tricks Geeten Mistry Episode 6.3: "Fresh Starts" Coming Up Shahid Episode 7.1: "Adha Cup" The Fixer Supari Episode 2.6 Spooks Amish Mani Episode 8.1 2010–2011 EastEnders Dr. Yusef Khan 95 episodes 2011 The Shadow Line Commander Khokar 4 episodes A Dangerous Place to Meet My Family Himself - Narrator Television film 2012 Midsomer Murders Harry Dutta Episode 15.3: "Written in the Stars" 2013 The Last Witch Doctor Television film 2014 Silent Witness Mousa Rashid Series 17; 2 episodes: "Commodity: Parts 1 & 2" Silk Dani Kakwani Episode 3.4: "Mother Country" From There to Here DI Graves Mini-series; 2 episodes Lewis Rizwan Nooran Series 8; 2 episodes: "Entry Wounds: Parts 1 & 2" 2014, 2016 In the Club Vinay Recurring role; 2 episodes 2015 Father Brown Syrus Episode 3.8: "The Lair of the Libertines" Black Work DCI Jahan Kapoor Mini-series; 3 episodes Jekyll and Hyde Dr. Vishal Najaran Mini-series; 3 episodes 2016 Shetland Calvin Sarwar Series 3; 3 episodes Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands Harken 4 episodes DCI Banks Malik Nadir Series 5; 4 episodes 2017 Revolting Various characters 3 episodes Vera Stuart Mayfield Episode 7.2: "Dark Angel" Versailles Sultan of Bijapur Episode 2.6: "The Sands of Time" Three Girls Nazir Afzal Mini-series; 2 episodes Still Star-Crossed Venetian Moneylender Episode 1.2: "The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth" Love, Lies and Records Mr. Hussain Episode 1.6 My Pure Land – Associate producer 2018 Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators Chester Patterson Episode 1.4: "This Rough Magic" No Offence Mayor Kashif Hassan Series 3; 3 episodes Hounslow Diaries Uncle Abdul Azeez Episode 1.1: "Pilot" Civilisations Himself - Presenter Episode 1.2: "Art and the Sea" 2019 The Feed Dr. Adu Episode 1.4 2019–2021 Line of Duty PCC Rohan Sindwhani Series 5 & 6; 8 episodes 2020 The Stranger Parth Kuhalam Mini-series; 2 episodes 2020–2024 Alex Rider John Crawley Series 1–3; 21 episodes 2021 Baptiste Nadeem Series 2; 6 episodes 2022 Agatha Raisin Karim Khan Episode 4.4: "There Goes the Bride" The Good Karma Hospital Jules Fonseca Series 4; 2 episodes Sherwood Vinay Chakarabati Episode 1.2 Ackley Bridge Imran Farooqi Episode 5.6 2023 Midsomer Murders Richard 'Dickie' Dent Episode 23.4: "Dressed to Kill" The Effects of Lying Naveen Television film The Couple Next Door DC Collins Episode 1.6: "Crimes of Passion" 2024 Finders Keepers Adil Kumar Mini-series; episode 2 McDonald & Dodds George Sharma Episode 4.1: "The Rule of Three" Protection DCI Arun Kapoor Mini-series; 5 episodes 2025 Malpractice Mr. Arun Mansoor Series 2; 5 episodes The Hack Rahul Shah Mini-series; episode 6 2026 Death in Paradise Alasdair Hartnell Episode 15.2

Video games Year Title Role (voice) Notes 2017 Dark Souls III: The Ringed City White-faced Locust