Alina Khan Wiki, Height, Age, Family, Biography & More

Alina Khan is a Pakistani transgender actress who played the lead role in the film ‘Joyland’ (2022), which was the first Pakistani film that premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2022. The film was Pakistan’s entry for Best International Feature Film at 95th Academy Awards.

Wiki/Biography

Alina Khan was born on Monday, 26 October 1998 (age 24 years; as of 2022) in Lahore, Pakistan. Her zodiac sign is Scorpio. She graduated with an Intermediate of Commerce (I.Com) degree and did a basic computer course. At a tender age, she discovered the brutal reality of the Indian community. Growing up with these social inequalities had an impact on her life. Alina dreamed of becoming a doctor but her family conditions didn’t allow her to pursue her dreams.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 10″

Hair Colour: Brown

Eye Colour: Light Brown

Family

She belongs to a Muslim family from Lahore, Pakistan.

Parents & Siblings

When Alina was in 5th standard, her father passed away. She has a mother, a brother, and a sister. In an interview, while talking about her family and said,

My sister was the eldest and she was a bully; I used to be a little scared of her. I have been beaten up a lot by my brother, my sister, mother in my childhood… Somewhere in my heart, I was a little scared.”

Religion

Alina Khan follows Islam.

Career

Film

In 2019, she made her debut with the short film titled ‘Darling’ in which she played the lead role. Director Saim Sadiq cast her to play the role of Alina in his film, which won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at the 76th Venice Film Festival in 2019.

Her other feature film titled ‘Joyland’ (2022) was also directed by Saim Sadiq. In this film, she played the role of Biba, an intersex dancer. The movie won two awards at the Cannes Festival and made history as the first feature film from Pakistan. Both films have earned Alina popularity and appreciation.

Facts/Trivia

• At the age of 13, she ran away from her home because her mother, brother, and sister used to beat her up for her sexuality. I was about 13 or 14 when I left home… I roamed the streets for four to five days. With the money that I had, I could eat just once a day… There was a senior in my trans community, Neeli Ranaji; she is from Lahore. We have a guru-disciple tradition in the Pakistani trans community, so I made her my guru and she introduced me to the trans community.

• During an interview, while talking about how she got into film cinema, Alina shared,
  

  There is an NGO working with our trans community in Pakistan. I got a call from them saying that a short film called Darling is being made, and they asked if I would like to work in it? I said, “Yes, of course,” because the past life I had was very different. I used to do dance performances at functions in Lahore, where I live alone. So I auditioned for Darling and, luckily, I got selected.”

• Apart from acting, Alina has done a couple of projects including modelling for makeup and clothing brands.