‘To Muslim kids watching our Channel 4 series – you’re not wrong for being you’-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

As Nida Manzoor’s bold, brash and brilliant second season of We Are Lady Parts drops on Channel 4, the cast are ready to smash stereotypes about Muslim women.

While preparing to share their brand new batch of episodes with fans, they shared an emphatic and powerful message with any Muslim kids watching – they should never forget that there is ‘nothing wrong’ with being their true and authentic selves.

The eight-episode season focuses on the hilarious eponymous all-Muslim woman punk rock band with a host of new original punk songs, and a fresh set of trials and tribulations for each band member to overcome.

Microbiology PhD student-turned-empowered guitarist Amina (Anjana Vasan), fiercely protective drummer Ayesha (Juliette Motamed), passionate frontwoman Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey), badass mum and bassist Bisma (Faith Omole) and mastermind manager Momtaz (Lucie Shorthouse) make up our motley crew of musicians.

And if that wasn’t enough to whet the appetite, the new season even boasts cameos from Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and British Asian acting legend Meera Syal who plays a pioneering Muslim punk, Sister Squire.

‘You can’t cancel greatness,’ Lucie told Metro.co.uk when asked about the agonising three-year wait for a brand new season that left some concerned it would never return.

Fans have some iconic punk rock numbers to look forward to (Picture: Parisa Taghizadeh/Peacock/WTTV Limited)

During the gap, showrunner Nida Manzoor produced action film Polite Society (which made it onto Barak Obama’s favourite films of the year).

While lead star Anjana starred opposite Paul Mescal in a stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire (which landed her an Olivier award).

Not a shabby hiatus before the pair turned their attention back to the Bafta-nominated fictional band.

‘To come back after what Nida’s done this season, it means that you can ask us: “How do you feel about season two,” and we’re confident because we know she’s smashed it out the park,’ Faith teased.

There are some truly unforgettable moments peppered through the season, including Malala’s cameo in punk number Malala Made Me Do It, which proved itself a truly ‘chaotic’ day on set.

Malala handled her cameo like a ‘pro’ (Picture: Parisa Taghizadeh/Peacock/WTTV Limited)

And worked the whole number like Beyonce (Picture: Parisa Taghizadeh/Peacock/WTTV Limited)

‘It was such a chaotic day on set, everyone was so charged up, buzzing that Malala was gonna be there. It was just such a funny atmosphere for us,’ Juliette reminisced.

During the sequence, Malala is astride a bedazzled horse emanating top-tier girlboss energy with a small smirk on her face.

Anjana added that the entire saga was ‘really endearing’.

‘Everyone was so excited and [Malala] was just a pro. She’s really comfortable in her own skin. Nida put her on a gold horse which is iconic and she just made it work like Beyoncé, she was like “I’m on a horse”,’ she said.

The girls themselves go through some more soul searching this season as they try to settle into their own identities and cement their band ethos.

Sparks are going to fly for Amina this season (Picture: Saima Khalid/Peacock/WTTV Limited)

For Amina this comes in the shape of her ‘villain era’ filled with firm boundaries and a healthy carpe diem approach to life. The new attitude even gets her caught in a love triangle between Ayesha’s brother Ahsan (Zaqi Ismail) and his folksy friend Billy (Jack Riddiford).

It’s a storyline rarely depicted for hijabi women on screen where they are unapologetically desired and in control of their own romantic destiny.

‘I was living out all my rom-com fantasies,’ Anjana revealed.

‘Nida charted that journey so wonderfully. To be able to show that she is capable of love and to be loved by someone felt very powerful and she is very messy with exploring all of that and it is very relatable I think.’

Similarly Ayesha’s figuring out her own romance this season as she stumbles into a new relationship with someone in an entirely different world to herself, Laura (Anna Tolstoy).

Each band member has a crisis to work through (Picture: Metro)

Juliette explained: ‘Her situation with Laura is kind of symbolic. I think of the wider issue with Ayesha which is where she’s trying to figure where she fits and I think that’s a really vulnerable journey for her and something that is quite, tender.’

The new season moves away from the idea of Ayesha solely as a ‘fierce protector who doesn’t take s***’.

‘She’s always so ready with a biting comment or a snarky side thing, just always trying to protect her sisters and herself.

‘I think what season two has done really beautifully is show the limits of how Ayesha protects herself  and what she may be closing herself off from.’

With a cast of fully-fleshed out, nuanced Muslim women at the helm of this show, the whole cast acknowledged just how ‘life-changing’and ’empowering’ this kind of representation on screen is.

‘We understand that experience of having to fight and push into those spaces that you wouldn’t typically see us,’ Faith, who is tipped to have a ‘beautiful’ cover from Nina Simone, shared.

‘It means that when we have characters like these we really take care of them, we really nurture them because we understand that they are important.

‘It’s been such a privilege and an honour to be in a cast where so many people get to step out and say, “This is what I’m going through, this is my voice,” and there is space for each and every one of them. That’s been really empowering.

‘It’s not just who you’re playing on a set like this, it’s who you get to see and that is quite life-changing.’

Her words were echoed by co-star Lucie who shared there was an ‘unspoken contract’ between the cast and crew because ‘someone understands your lived experience’.

The show is a breath of fresh air in the TV industry landscape (Picture: Saima Khalid/Peacock/WTTV Limite)

A 2021 report proved just how achingly sparse these characters are. Despite making up 25% of the world’s population, Muslim characters only made up 1% of speaking roles across 200 popular TV shows from 2018 to 2019.

This is particularly bleak during a time when Islamophobia is on the rise. One charity, Tell Mama, found that anti-Muslim attacks have more than tripled in the past four months alone.

But the cast had some words of wisdom to bestow upon any Muslims growing up in the UK who don’t fit neatly into a box.

‘You have a place, you belong, your people are here, everything that you are, just own it and love it because the world needs you,’ Sarah said.

While Juliette added: ‘You’re not wrong for being you. Whatever idiosyncrasy or contradiction or difficulty, or something you can’t square away with yourself – that’s so human.

‘For people out there for whom the show resonates, you’re seen, you’re not wrong – no one is wrong – you’re an amazing person and you’re loved, super loved.’

We Are Lady Parts season two is now available to stream on Channel 4

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