MEERA SYAL REFLECTS ON MARRYING ON-SCREEN GRANDSON

Dame Meera Syal has described as "weird" her marriage to Sanjeev Bhaskar, who played her grandson in the BBC comedy The Kumars at No. 42. Syal, now 65, was cast as the elderly grandmother Sushil 'Ummi' Kumar when she was 40 years old, whilst Bhaskar, 62, played her on-screen grandson and the show's chat show presenter. The pair had previously worked together on the British Asian sitcom Goodness Gracious Me in the 1990s before collaborating on The Kumars at No. 42, which premiered in 2001.

Syal said in a podcast interview that she was cast as the grandmother because the character demanded improvisational skills that other auditioning actors could not demonstrate. The couple realised their friendship had developed into something deeper during a 23-hour flight to Australia in 2003. They married, and their son was born two years later. The Kumars at No. 42 ended in 2006 after becoming sufficiently successful that Syal and Bhaskar recorded a cover of "Spirit in the Sky" with Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates for Comic Relief, which reached number one on the UK chart.

Bhaskar reflected on the flight in a 2022 interview, describing how the pair were travelling first class to promote Goodness Gracious Me, which had been successful in Australia, whilst Syal was releasing her film Anita & Me. He stated that the extended time together revealed unfiltered versions of themselves, noting that his inability to sleep on planes meant he had fewer conversational defences during the journey.