Originally followed her Welsh-Czech mother Yasmin's career as an actress, but then switched to that of her Pakistani father Mohammed as a politician. Other members of her family involved in film include her husband, her sister Seema Rizvi, and her uncle Ali Rizvi.
She is a former Scottish National Party MP for Ochil and South Perthshire.
She grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland and studied law at Strathclyde University in Glasgow.