Shakil Kazemi was the son of Umar and Carmel Kazemi and brother of Kush and Darius Kazemi. He was also the uncle of Zaair Kazemi and Arthur Fowler Jr. He made his first appearance on 4 May 2016 and last on 25 May 2018. He was portrayed by Shaheen Jafargholi.
Backstory[]
After Carmel and Umar had Kush and Darius, they tried for ages to have another baby. Then Carmel found out she was pregnant and the pair were delighted to welcome their third baby boy into the world. Carmel and Umar promised never to be angry with anything Shakil does as they waited so long for him.
Storylines[]
2016-2018: Time in Albert Square, relationship with Rebecca 'Bex' Fowler and death[]
Shakil arrives in Walford in May 2016 to tell his mother Carmel that her former husband, Umar, wants to meet her. However, he does not arrive and Shakil's brother Kush realises that Shakil is lying, so he admits to Carmel that he made it up to try to reunite his parents. Carmel shouts at him to leave, but Shakil reveals that he is no longer welcome at home, so Carmel allows him to stay, saying he should enrol in Walford High School. He is against this until he sees his potential schoolmates, Louise Mitchell and Rebecca 'Bex' Fowler. Bex is annoyed when Louise flirts with Shakil.
At Martin Fowler and Stacey Fowler's wedding reception, Shakil kisses Bex, witnessed by a jealous Louise. Louise tells Bex that she doesn't mind that she kissed Shakil, but then tells Shakil that Bex has anger problems. When Shakil kisses Bex on the cheek, Louise convinces her to "treat him mean, keep him keen", so he is confused when Bex declines his offer of a drink. Shakil thinks Bex is no longer interested so she cancels lunch with Martin to see him; when Martin finds them together, Bex is happy when Shakil calls her his girlfriend.
Shakil is eventually invited to have lunch with Bex and her parents Sonia Jackson and Martin, but tension rises between him and Martin during a game of charades where Shakil insults Martin and makes a sexual comment about his wife Stacey. While Sonia remains frustrated at Martin's hostile behaviour, she also disciplines Shakil for his rudeness, and the two eventually make up. Shakil later tells Bex that he wants to lose his virginity with her before his 16th birthday which worries Bex and she admits she is not ready to have sex. Shakil and Bex finally have sex in December 2016. Immediately afterwards, Shakil sees Bex and Louise talking and assumes Bex is telling Louise about it, so he ignores Bex. He ends his relationship with her shortly after because their communication breaks down and he assumes that she is no longer interested, leaving her devastated. Bex is further upset when she watches Shakil kiss Louise as part of the Christmas play.
In January 2017, Shakil is travelling on a bus with Denise Fox, Bex, Louise and new friend Keegan Baker back to Walford. The bus driver suffers a heart attack and crashes into the market and viaduct leaving many of the residents in danger. Shakil helps Bex and Louise out of the bus and Louise tells Bex that Shakil has saved her life. Shakil and Bex make amends, but they decide to stay as friends.
When Madison Drake and Alexandra D'Costa bully Bex during the showcase, Shakil exposes it through the soundboard. Shakil's feelings for Bex resurface but he finds out that she has feelings for their school teacher Gethin Pryce. As a result, Gethin resigns from his job and Louise tells Shakil everything. Bex ignores them out of embarrassment and humiliation. Shakil is further disappointed when Louise tells him that he is immature but this leads them to kiss. Bex catches them and Louise reassures her that she & Shakil have no feelings for each other.
In May 2018, Shakil watches the royal wedding with Bex and the pair become close. Meanwhile, Keegan steels a bike and takes it back to Walford as his mother Karen Taylor kept ringing Keegan to hurry up and get home before the royal wedding started. Keegan saw the bike and simply just took it and rode home. Shakil saw a picture of the bike on his phone with Keegan riding it and told Keegan that that the bike belong to some hard lads who he wouldn't want to mess with. Keegan told Shakil that the bike was just left there with out any supervision. Shakil tells him that the boys don't need to tie the bike up as everyone knows not to mess with them but Keegan refuses to return it. While watching the royal wedding at the Queen Vic, Shakil spots Keegan going to the bathroom and takes some keys out of Keegan's coat pocket to return the bike so Keegan doesn't get into trouble but the boys come into the pub to see Keegan but he hides. Later that night, Keegan spots someone trying to get his attention and follows him into the alleyway where he gets stabbed along with Shakil. Shakil tells Keegan he is going to get help but doesn't return. Mick Carter finds Keegan in the alleyway and rushes him to hospital. Keegan tries to tell Mick about Shakil but he is unable to talk properly as he got stabbed in the chest. Keegan arrives at the hospital and they then stabilise the womb and Keegan is fine. A worried Mick tries to contact Karen but she does not answer her phone so he leaves a note on the back of cigarette packet and posts it through her door - which Keegan's brother Keanu Taylor finds. The next day, Shakil is found by Masood Ahmed and Kathy Beale and is rushed to hospital with his brother Kush by his side. Sadly, Shakil dies after losing too much blood.
Keegan begins to look at pictures of him and Shakil and becomes emotional. He then tells the police what happened for Shakil's sake and later that day, he is allowed to go home from hospital. Shakil's brother Darius asks Keegan why he didn't tell anyone about Shakil but Keegan tells him that he tried. Flowers and cards are placed on a bench near where Shakil was found, in memory of him. Keegan, Bex, Louise, Bex's cousin Tiffany Butcher, Keegan's sister Bernadette Taylor and Hunter Owen gather round and remember Shakil. Keegan becomes upset but Bernadette tells him it wasn't his fault. Keegan tells the group that Shakil wouldn't have wanted flowers or cards, he would have wanted a good party.
Fight count[]
Punches[]
- Keegan Baker (9 March 2017 - Part 1) (during a fight with Keegan)
Total: 1
Individual characters punched: 1
Total punches: 1
Background information[]
- It was announced in April 2018, that Shakil was to be killed off later in the year as part of a high-profile knife crime story, produced in partnership with Brooke Kinsella MBE, a former EastEnders actress whose brother was murdered after being stabbed.