The BAFTA Fellowship: Meera Syal CBE

Comedian, actor and writer Meera Syal’s exceptional work entertaining the nation – including as hm the queen’s favourite, granny kumar – earns her BAFTA’s highest recognition.

BAFTA portrait 2023

BAFTA/Rachell Smith

If television is escapism, then the 1970s’ view of the world that a young Meera Syal saw was not the most nurturing, with such provocative shows as The Black and White Minstrel Show, Til Death Us Do Part and Love Thy Neighbour. “Oh my god, it was such a car crash. You would be shocked at what passed as entertainment,” gasps the 61-year-old writer, comedian and actor. “This was my childhood.”

Growing up in an Indian Punjabi family, Syal moved from Essington in Staffordshire, a mining town in the Midlands, to nearby Bloxwich. “Of course you become a performer. You’re changing masks all the time just to fit into whatever environment you’re in,” she laughs.

“The way that the world makes sense to me, and how to claim my place in it, is to tell my stories.”

Her emotional journey underpins her illustrious career. Whether it was writing the script for Bhaji on the Beach (1993) or appearing in the recent Roar (2022), Syal’s power lies in her crucial decision to reject being the butt of the jokes or be rendered voiceless when she has such a unique and vibrant sense of perspective. Now she boasts an MBE, a CBE and BAFTA’s highest honour, the Fellowship.

“The way that the world makes sense to me, and how to claim my place in it, is to tell my stories,” she notes. “It changes the way people see you. They don’t see you as ‘other’ if they can stand in your shoes.”

BAFTA Portrait 2023

BAFTA/Rachell Smith

Syal became inspired by the likes of Victoria Wood who used the power of observation to shine a light on the ludicrous experiences of northern workingclass women. Imbued with a hunger to do the same, she joined the ensemble cast for BBC’s The Real McCoy (1991-1996) and then, through one of that show’s writers, Anil Gupta, the BAFTA-nominated Goodness Gracious Me (1998-2000).

“I found a tribe, I found my people,” she explains. “It was so joyous because we had this shorthand for a dual cultural heritage that no one really had explored.”

Goodness Gracious Me’s Sanjeev Bhaskar joined Syal on her next venture, The Kumars at No. 42 (2001-2006), where he played the grandson of Syal’s blunt grandmother, ‘Ummi’ Sushila. The comedy was a runaway hit, becoming one of HM The Queen’s favourite shows. “She was really lovely about the show and she clearly had watched it because she could quote bits of it,” Syal explains. “I think she was drawn to an older woman being the naughtiest person in the room.”

With husband Sanjeev Bhaskar at the BAFTA Television Awards in 2013

BAFTA/Sarah Dunn

The show won an International Emmy in 2003 and earned five BAFTA nominations, including one each for Syal and Bhaskar for Entertainment Performance. It was during this period that the pair fell in love and married. “Actors say don’t marry another actor but it’s such a weird, unpredictable, insecure and complex job that it’s nice to have someone who absolutely gets it and supports you,” she says.

Syal’s thankful for her journey so far and that she has so many projects she’s proud of on her impressive curriculum vitae. With the advent of streaming, and with projects that have proven the success of autonomy for creators from workingclass and underrepresented ethnic groups, she’s also hopeful for the future.

“We’re getting there but there’s still a lot of work to do,” she says. “We can build pressure together and change things.”

WORDS: Kemi Alemoru

Read the full interview: bafta.org/about/awards-brochures