Shakeel Siddiqui

Shakeel in his earlier career did not quite click until he was discovered by Umar Shareef, who eventually made him an important theater artist. Both worked in several stage dramas together, including Bakra Qiston Pay (Goat On Installments), Yeh To House Full Hogaya (Full House), Nayee Ammi Purana Abba (New Mother, Old Father), Dulhan Main Lekar Jaonga (I Will Take The Bride), Beauty Parlour, Budha Ghar Per Hai (The Old Man Is At Home) and many more.[6]

Shakeel's role in stage plays and films were quite popular, not only in Pakistan but in the whole region, leading him to work with Indian comedians like Johnny Lever.

His situational jokes for Shruti Seth on the sets of Comedy Circus made the Indian audience absolute stunned and his presence of mind has led him to marvelous success in India.

Outside acting, Shakeel had also directed and written plays, including Dunya Do Numberi, which was staged in Karachi's Arts Council of Pakistan in 2020.[7]

Beginning in 2008, Shakeel is best known for his time in India due to the show Comedy Circus where he was critically acclaimed as the king of stage comedy. He later stepped out of the competition by himself and participated separately on fans' choice alongside Urvashi Dholakia initially and, later, with Shruti Seth and Mona Singh during the final season of his appearance.

Among the other participants he became role model and participants like Swapnil often referred him as the best stand up of the show. Satish Shah and Archana praised Shakeel for his tremendous performances and cracking furious jokes on Shruti Seth. He also appeared in game show Dus Ka Dum on Sony Television.

Due to the 26/11 attack in Mumbai, all the artists from Pakistan, including Shakeel, were asked to leave the country.[8][9] Some news channels and blogs reported that Shakeel was beaten and forced to leave India by locals due to 26/11 Mumbai attacks.[10][11][12]

However, he later denied being beaten or abused and claimed that the producers of Sony were threatened by the members of MNS of "dire consequences" if they continue to allow Pakistanis to perform on their shows. As a safety precaution, the producers and the artist agreed to have him leave the country. This claim coincides with later reports.[13][14][15]

In early 2014, Shakeel made a comeback to Indian screen with Comedy Classes on Life Ok.[16]

Due to the political tensions between both countries rising again, Shakeel's last appearance on Indian television would be in 2016.