Actor Arian Nik has spoken about his character's sexuality in the BBC's new legal drama, The Split Up. Nik plays Kav in the six-part series, the youngest sibling in the Kishan family, who is trying to carve his place in his family and career.
Kav is openly gay, which has been accepted by his family, as he begins developing a relationship with Ashok (Mawaan Rizwan) in the series. His main storylines involve feeling overshadowed by his older siblings and the pressure to pass his final law exams, after he failed twice.
Pride in playing a queer character
Speaking to WalesOnline publishers Reach Plc, Arian spoke about the importance of being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community on the BBC show.
He commented: "I was so honoured to play a queer character in this show and to be in this South Asian family, but more proud that his queerness isn't the thing that defines him in the show.
"His queerness and his arc in the story aren't about acceptance of his family, or his culture, and it's really about acceptance of himself. For me, that was such a breath of fresh air."
He added: "I think it's going to provoke some thought amongst my own community, but a wider community too. I'm dead proud to play Kav, and I really hope we get to see more of them.
"I hope this gets the ball rolling for more BBC dramas and dramas in general, not comedies, but shows that really explore the queer global majority experience of being in the UK and stranding all these different cultures and expectations."
Upcoming episode details
On Sunday night (October 4), BBC viewers will see the penultimate episode of the show as Aria (Ritu Arya) grapples with guilt over her own betrayal, as she was last seen kissing her former flame Luke Christos (Dimitri Leonidas) on her joint hen-stag do to Neal Sharma (Danny Ashok).
Meanwhile, she's just learnt a major bombshell about her father, Dhruv (Sanjeev Bhaskar), which could derail her entire family. Things are set to take another turn when an urgent abduction case with a surprising client needs all hands on deck.
Speaking about being part of the show in the past, Ritu commented: "Aria’s family is complex, and she is the glue inside that family, especially since their mother died; she's holding it all together. She wants to expand the family business; she wants what's best for everyone.
"She's always rooting for her siblings because she's their biggest champion. She loves her dad - she basically worships him and wants to be him - but she also hates him at times. So, it’s an interesting family, and I think they've grown so much closer together since losing their mum.
"We see them at this time in their life where they’re in that transitional period of experiencing this big absence, but there’s also so much love and with that comes a lot of lightness. I think Aria brings as much lightness as she can throughout, because that's how she copes in that situation."
The Split Up is available to watch Sunday on BBC One at 9pm.
