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Dame Meera Syal has said she once turned down a role in a TV show because it was going to feature brownface
The actor, writer and director, who made her acting debut in the 1980s, rose to prominence in the 1990s, writing Gurinder Chadah film Bhaji on the Beach and creating BBC sketch show Goodness Gracious Me alongside Anil Gupta and future husband Sanjeev Bhaskar.
Syal, 65, has revealed she turned down a “huge role” as one of Mahatma Gandhi’s nieces in an old TV show – “a Raj epic” whose name she said she’s forgotten – because it was due to feature a white actor playing former Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, but with his skin darkened using makeup.
“I said no, and my agent was not best pleased at the time,” Syal said at Henley Literary Festival. “I just said, ‘I can’t – I don’t know how I can be a part of this.’ Because we’re fighting to be seen as whole and real people, and it’s on telly and it’s forever; it’s not a theatre show. But actually, it’s sunk without a trace.”
She continued: “At the time, it was a very difficult decision to make, but you have to take on that responsibility. I was so aware how misrepresented we were and misunderstood we were.”
Syal, who was born in Wolverhampton in 1961, is the daughter of Indian Punjabi parents who moved to the UK from New Delhi. She often explores her Indian heritage and culture within her acclaimed work, having also spent seven years starring in The Kumars at No 42 – a BBC sitcom about a British Indian family.
While studying for her degree in English and Drama at Manchester University, she co-wrote a play called One of Us, about an Asian girl who runs away to be an actress.
She took the play to the National Student Drama Festival, where it won a prize to perform at the Edinburgh International Festival.
This kick-started her career after her graduation, and Syal went to work at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool in 1987, where she starred as Jacinta Condor in Caryl Churchill’s play Serious Money.
In December 2025, Syal was given a damehood in the King’s New Year Honours list. She was previously made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s New Year Honours list in 1997, and in 2015 she was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). This year, she released a memoir titled Vigilauntie.
