Nish Panesar
Fictional character from EastEnders / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nish Panesar is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Navin Chowdhry. After being mentioned multiple times beforehand, Nish made his first appearance in episode 6565, broadcast on 29 September 2022. It was confirmed that Chowdhry had begun filming before the announcement of his casting on 28 August 2022.
Nish Panesar | |||||||||||||||||
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EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Navin Chowdhry | ||||||||||||||||
Duration | 2022–present | ||||||||||||||||
First appearance | Episode 6565 29 September 2022 | ||||||||||||||||
Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||
Introduced by | Chris Clenshaw | ||||||||||||||||
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Described as "ice-cold" and "manipulative", Nish is introduced as the estranged mentally abusive and controlling husband of Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) and the father of Kheerat (Jaz Deol), Jags (Amar Adatia), Vinny (Shiv Jalota) and Ash (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha). He is later revealed to also be the father of Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) in a twist. Since his introduction, Nish's storylines have focused on his attempts to rebuild relationships with his family, the crumbling of his marriage to Suki, a feud with Suki's lover Eve Unwin (Heather Peace), becoming comatosed during "The Six" storyline, and a fling with Kat Mitchell (Jessie Wallace).
Nish has received mixed reviews for his role as a villain by critics and he was disliked by general viewers due to his depraved actions; With Laura Denby of Radio Times calling Nish "irredeemable", Sophie Dainty of Digital Spy reporting that Nish's "nefarious" actions had "infuriated" fans of the show, adding that many hoped for his comeuppance, and Chowdhry admitting that he was aware that many fans hoped Nish would be the victim of "The Six" storyline.