Farrah Maalik is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Krupa Pattani. The character and casting was announced in April 2017 and Pattani's first appearance as Farrah aired on 6 June 2017. Farrah was introduced as the sister of Yasmine Maalik (Haiesha Mistry) and the daughter of Misbah Maalik (Harvey Virdi) as part of a new Muslim family on Hollyoaks. Farrah is a clinical psychologist and was characterised as being honest, feisty and confident. As part of the character's androgynous, Pattani had to cut her hair and she also had tattoos painted on. Pattani enjoyed playing a lesbian Muslim character and found it intriguing that these aspect of Farrah's identity did not define her. Hollyoaks executive producer Bryan Kirkwood revealed that the soap intended to introduce a new lesbian character and a Muslim family and so combine the two aspects to create Farrah.

Farrah's initial storyline sees her move to the Hollyoaks village to take a new job at the hospital and she catches the eye of Esther Bloom (Jazmine Franks). One of Farrah's new patients is revealed to be Esther's estranged wife Kim Butterfield (Daisy Wood-Davis), who takes a strong liking to Farrah. Farrah and Kim eventually begin a romantic relationship, although Misbah is concerned about this due to the risk on Farrah's job. Kirkwood explained that he did not want Farrah to have a coming out in a Muslim family storyline as it had already happened on BBC soap opera EastEnders and he believed that having an accepting Muslim family showed progress. Kim is later kidnapped by Ryan Knight (Duncan James) and Farrah tries to find Kim. When Kim is eventually rescued, Farrah struggles to support her and ends up cheating on Kim with Grace Black (Tamara Wall). This leads to Kim being shot by Grace's ex-boyfriend Glenn Donovan (Bob Cryer) and Farrah works with several other women to take down Glenn.

After Kim leaves the village after taking the blame for Glenn's death, Farrah begins a relationship with Grace. Their relationship is challenged when Farrah received a job offer abroad, and when Grace is run over by her brother Liam Donovan (Jude Monk McGowan), he manipulates Grace into breaking up with Farrah to protect his secret. This leads to Farrah leaving the village and her last appearance aired on 28 May 2019. Pattani revealed that her departure was a mutual decision between her and Kirkwood and that she had enjoyed her time on the soap but wanted to explore other acting opportunities. Farrah was well-received by critics and viewers. Farrah's opening scene, which saw her come into the village on the back of a motorcycle and kiss a woman, was considered memorable, whilst her departure was viewed as emotional.

In April 2017, it was announced that Hollyoaks would be introducing the family of new character Yasmine Maalik (Haiesha Mistry), consisting of her sister Farrah and their mother Misbah Maalik (Harvey Virdi). It was reported that Krupa Pattani had been cast as Farrah Maalik, who was described as having a "feisty, hilarious and roaring" personality. Farrah was characterised as being a clinical psychologist and making people "gasp" with her "blunt honesty". Pattani said that she was "thrilled" to be joining the soap, commenting, "I can't believe I'm getting to play such a unique and free-spirited character like Farrah in such a wonderful family as the Maaliks". Farrah's family was later joined by Farrah's younger brother Imran Maalik (Ijaz Rana) and their half-brother Sami Maalik (Rishi Nair) later in 2017, with it being reported that the family would have a bigger role in the soap.

Hollyoaks executive producer Bryan Kirkwood called Farrah "brilliant", saying, "No doubt she's going to be a divisive character, but I'm really proud of Krupa's performance – I think it's really strong, really unique and an original voice in soap. In Farrah's case, I would like her to be a role model". Whilst speaking at the Royal Television Society's 2017 panel "LGBTQ in Soap: Job Done?", Kirkwood said that he had avoided having Farrah have a storyline where she comes out to her Muslim family as it had already been done in BBC soap opera EastEnders through the character of Syed Masood (Marc Elliott), which Kirkwood believed had been done well, so the Hollyoaks producers decided to have a "modern Muslim family" who accept their daughter. He added that "Farrah being accepted by her mum Misbah" could only have happened after the EastEnders storyline. Kirkwood revealed, "We were bringing in a Muslim family and we also wanted to bring in a new lesbian character to be an antagonist for Kim and Esther. So then we thought, why not bring in a lesbian character within a Muslim family?" Pattani said that she wanted to explore Farrah being herself, explaining, "She's a gay, Muslim woman with an androgynous look, which in itself is quite different from other characters in Hollyoaks. I'd like to see what comes across her path".

Pattani told Soaplife that Farrah is not like any other female character in Hollyoaks, calling her "confident, passionate and openly gay" and revealing that Farrah could cause a "stir" and does not apologise for who she is. Pattani explained that Farrah is close to her mother and sister and "interested in people", calling the character "well educated, quick-witted and brilliant at her job". Pattani also hinted that Farrah could be hiding some secrets, commenting that the character "comes across" as having "everything sorted with this great job and the ability to handle everything, but she has a dark past and it's not to do with her sexuality. It's just part of who she is." Pattani had previously had minor roles in the soap operas EastEnders and Emmerdale and these experiences made her want to be in more soaps, but she did not believe that it would happen. She revealed that she was very grateful to be Hollyoaks, adding, "Everyone is really lovely and the other cast members have taken me out for dinner and stuff". For the role, Pattani relocated from London to Liverpool. Pattani had watched Hollyoaks when she was younger and had been interested that the soap had previously tackled a storyline about male rape. Pattani believed that it was important to support all soap operas despite being "Team Hollyoaks all the way".

Pattani said that she was really excited when Farrah's character was pitched to her as she had not seen a gay Muslim women in a soap opera before and was happy that Farrah was several minorities. Pattani found it intriguing that Farrah's minorities did not define her, with Pattani explaining that the soap never had to explain that she is gay or Muslim. Pattani explained that Farrah is just a human being trying to be happy like everyone else. Pattani revealed that Farrah's tattoos were not real and were painted onto her instead, explaining, "I have to have them put on in make-up whenever I wear short sleeves. It's quite exciting having tattoos. I don't have any in real-life and it's made me think I might actually get one". She revealed that the tattoos take about an hour to put on. Pattani's favourite tattoo of Farrah's was the tiger on a bed of roses as she believed that it symbolised the spirit of Farrah's character – "fierce, but also a softie!" Pattani had her hair cut short for the role, which she found "really exciting" and a change from her previous role where she had to be "really girlie"; she admitted that she need "adjusting" to the style change but ended up having "fun" with her new short hair. The actress explained that the creative team at Hollyoaks wanted her to cut her hair as it was part of Farrah's androgynous look and identity. She believed that Farrah is feminine in herself but also dresses a bit masculine.

In 2018, Pattani said that she loved being part of the Maalik family unit, calling it "amazing" and "really fun", and explained that the cast would become "protective" of each other like a real family due to working so closely together. Pattani added that she liked the "playful banter" that they had and revealed that the unit tried to organise meals out together but had not achieved it often due to the difficulty in finding a suitable time. She also revealed that Virdi would treat the rest of the units as her "babies" and was caring and protective towards them. Pattani had worked with Virdi before on Citizen Khan, where Virdi played the mother-in-law of Pattani's character, which Pattani called a "pleasure". Pattani has said that she would be friends with Farrah in real-life as she is "nice", "normal" and "loyal". The actress explained that Hollyoaks initially wanted Farrah to be a role model, which worried Pattani that the character would be boring; however, she believed that the character had always tried to do the right thing and had been involved in a lot of drama, with Pattani adding that Farrah was "flawed" like everyone else and that she has "plenty to say for herself". Compared to her previous minor roles in soap operas, Pattani was glad to be portraying a "fully fledged character" and having her own story, which she believed was more fulfilling as an actor. She also believed that actors end up playing versions of themselves in soap operas due to the process being so fast. Pattani revealed that she had been recognised by Hollyoaks fans, with some screaming and running away whilst others said hello to her. The actress also revealed that she shared a dressing room with Virdi, Amy Conachan (Courtney Campbell), Sophie Porley (Ellie Nightingale) and Lizzie Stavrou (DS Roxy Cassidy), and that they would chat or "chill" in between scenes.