Kala made her television debut in 2011 when she joined the cast of
Shameless on
Channel 4 for its eighth series as Sita Desai. She then made her professional stage debut in 2012 with roles in the
Royal Shakespeare Company production of
Much Ado About Nothing in Stratford-upon-Avon, for which she received an
Ian Charleson Award nomination, and
Khadija is 18 at the
Finborough Theatre, for which she was nominated for an
Off West End Award. Upon graduating from drama school in 2013, Kala made her feature film debut in the comedy
Jadoo. She also appeared in
Farragut North at
Southwark Playhouse and
Djinns Of Eidgah at the
Royal Court Theatre. She was named a 2015
BAFTA Breakthrough Brit. In 2015 and 2016, Kala had a main role as Sooni Dalal in the Channel 4 drama
Indian Summers. In the years following, Kala did more theatre, including
PunkPlay at Southwark Playhouse in 2016,
Obsession at the
Barbican Theatre in 2017,
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the
Theatre Royal, Bath in 2019, and
The Welkin at the
National Theatre in 2020. Kala returned to television in 2021 with guest appearances in the BBC series
Call the Midwife and the
Netflix series
Master of None. This was followed in 2022 by recurring roles in
Man vs. Bee, also on Netflix, and the Channel 4 thriller
The Undeclared War. Kala returned to the National Theatre in 2023 when she originated the role of Jessica Levy in
The Motive and the Cue, directed by
Sam Mendes, and took over the role of Vimala in
The Father and the Assassin. She had roles in the
Paramount+ series
The Doll Factory (2023) and the
Apple TV+ series
Criminal Record(2024). She plays Saima, the wife of detective Virdee, in the
BBC One crime drama
Virdee, which premiered in February 2025. At time of the series release, she was filming season 2 of
Criminal Record. ==Filmography==