Shaw comes from a background of mixed culture, religion and experiences - his father was born in Amritsar (his paternal grandparents were from Kashmir and Afghanistan)[2] and his mother is British (his maternal grandfather was the local vicar, a relation of Orde Wingate).
His first professional role was in Deborah Warner's production of Julius Caesar at the Barbican Theatre with a cast which included Ralph Fiennes, Fiona Shaw and Simon Russell Beale.
He worked for Pixar in spring 2010 on the film John Carter, with an ensemble cast that included Mark Strong, Willem Dafoe, Taylor Kitsch and Dominic West, and directed by Oscar winner Andrew Stanton.
[4] In other media, Shaw has appeared in the IMAX production, Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs with William Hope and Nassar Memazia and in two television movies, Messiah: The Rapture with Marc Warren and Saddam's Tribe with Stanley Townsend and Daniel Mays.
Other television appearances include Call the Midwife as Zakir, Trigger Point with Josh Dallas, Endeavour as Prince Nabil and as Augustino in the second series of The Borgias for Showtime with Sean Harris.