| Nish Panesar | |||||||||||||||||
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| EastEnders character | |||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Navin Chowdhry | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2022–2024 | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 6565 29 September 2022 | ||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 7006 31 October 2024 | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Chris Clenshaw | ||||||||||||||||
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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. Billed 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), Ash (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha), and Vinny (Shiv Jalota). 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, a fling with Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), suffering from viral myocarditis, learning the truth of The Six's murder, and falsely confessing to the crime before being arrested. In September 2024, it was announced that Chowdhry would exit the show ahead of the 40th anniversary special, with the character making his final appearance in episode 7006, broadcast on 31 October 2024.
Nish's role as a villain received mixed reviews from critics for depraved actions. While Peter Hart of OK! praised Nish for quickly becoming a "memorable rogue" on the show, and Johnathon Hughes of Radio Times commended the character as one of the most heinous in the show's history, Hughes' co-worker Laura Denby criticised Nish for his behaviour and lack of redeeming traits and Amber-Louise Large of MyLondon labelled him as the most divisive member of his family. Chowdhry has been vocal about how much he enjoys his role, but has admitted concerns about how playing the character could affect his public image. For his portrayal, Chowdhry won the award for the Best Villain at the 2024 Radio Times Soap Awards.