Mobeen Azhar
Mobeen Azhar (born 1980) is a British journalist, radio and television presenter and filmmaker. He produces investigative reports and films for the BBC exploring themes related to politics, true crime, extremism, counter terrorism and sexuality. He has presented and produced international documentaries for BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Three and is a regular BBC Asian Network presenter. In 2017, he won a BAFTA for producing the BBC series "Muslims Like Us" and in 2020, he won a Royal Television Society Award for presenting BBC documentary "Hometown: A Killing". In 2019, Azhar became a presenter on new BBC  Three show "Plastic Surgery Undressed". Early life and education. Azhar was born and raised in Huddersfield in Yorkshire and is of British Asian background. His father was a bus driver and a shop keeper who encouraged Azhar to go to university. At university, Azhar gained a law degree and then returned to study broadcast journalism after a gap year. Career. In 2012, Azhar was part of a team reporting from Waziristan in Pakistan on US drone strikes on the Afghan border for a BBC Panorama special, "The Secret Drone War". In August 2013, he investigated gay life in urban Pakistan  for "Assignment: Inside Gay Pakistan" on the BBC World Service and on BBC Radio 4. Azhar has written about and reported extensively on musician Prince. In 2015, he presented BBC documentary "Hunting for Prince’s Vault" and in September 2016, Azhar's debut book "Prince Stories from the Purple Underground: 1958-2016" was published by Welbeck Publishing. In 2016, Azhar joined a police team of "Taliban Hunters" in Karachi, Pakistan, as part of documentary reporting for BBC Panorama. During filming he was shot at by the Taliban. In February 2016, Azhar presented the BBC Three documentary "Webcam Boys", spending a  couple of months with men who make money from performing online sex shows. In 2019, Azhar presented BBC documentaries "The Satanic Verses: 30 Years On," "A Black and White Killing: The Case that Shook Americ"a and "The Best Pakistani Transgender Retirement Home." In 2019, Azhar also presented six-part BBC documentary series "Hometown: A Killing", reporting on the police shooting of Yassar Yaqub in Huddersfield in 2017. Yasser Yaqub's father Mohammed Yaqub, who featured in the series, claimed Azhar had attempted to "smear" his son's name. Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman also criticized the programme, claiming it depicted the  town as "a hotbed of violent crime". The docu-series went on to win several awards. During the same year, Azhar became a presenter on BBC Three show "Plastic Surgery Undressed", alongside Vogue Williams. In May 2021, Azhar presented BBC Two documentary "The Battle For Britney: Fans, Cash, And A Conservatorship", reporting from California and Louisiana on the #FreeBritney movement, who claim music star Britney Spears is being "kept a virtual prisoner in her own home" through a conservatorship managed by her father. Spears was reported to have criticized the documentary, describing it as "hypocritical". In May 2021, Azhar also  presented four-part BBC series "Scam City: Money, Mayhem and Maseratis", investigating and delving into the world of Instagram scams and pyramid schemes. In 2022, Azhar will present a six-part true-crime series "Santa Claus the Serial Killer" on the relaunched BBC Three channel, exploring the case of serial killer Bruce McArthur. The series has been filmed in Canada and will explore themes of race, faith, culture and sexuality. Azhar was appointed as a member on the Advisory Board for the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival, helmed by Afua Hirsch, appointed Advisory Chair in March 2022. Awards. In May 2017 , Azhar won a BAFTA award for his work as producer on BBC series "Muslims Like Us". In 2018, Azhar’s show on the BBC Asian Network won the Best Radio Show at the Asian Media Awards. In June 2019, Azhar won the first ever Sandford St Martin Journalism Award for his BBC radio programme "The Dawn of British Jihad". In 2020, Azhar won the Royal Television Society 'Presenter of the Year' award for "Hometown: A Killing". In the same year, he also won 'Best Presenter' at the Grierson Awards for the same documentary series. Azhar has won an Amnesty International  award for "Panorama: The Secret Drone War." He has also been nominated for Foreign Press Association Award nominee for his BBC Radio 4 programme "Fatwa" and for his documentary "Inside Gay Pakistan". Personal life. Azhar is openly gay; and is a Muslim. He is an avid fan of musician Prince and horror films.