"the man I would go on to marry was playing my grandson."
Dame Meera Syal shared a rare comment on her marriage to Sanjeev Bhaskar, admitting it was “weird” to marry the man who played her on-screen grandson.
She played the elderly Sushil ‘Ummi’ Kumar on The Kumars at No. 42, while Sanjeev played her on-screen grandson.
The pair had already worked together on the hugely popular British Asian sitcom Goodness Gracious Me during the 1990s before The Kumars at No. 42 premiered in 2001.
Reflecting on the unusual casting dynamic, Meera told the Dish podcast:
“I mean, it was a bit weird that the man I would go on to marry was playing my grandson. But let’s move on swiftly from that.”
Meera explained that she was cast as the family grandmother because the role demanded strong improvisational skills, with other actors auditioning for the part struggling to capture what the character required.
Meera and Sanjeev realised their friendship could become something more during a 23-hour flight to Australia in 2003.
At the time, they were travelling to promote Goodness Gracious Me, while Meera Syal was also promoting her film Anita & Me.
The trip came during a particularly successful period for the pair, with their Comic Relief single with Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates having reached number one in the UK charts.
Sanjeev Bhaskar previously reflected on the flight and the beginnings of their relationship in an interview with The Guardian in 2022.
He said: “We were on such a high – we were being flown first class to promote Goodness Gracious Me, which had been a hit over there; Meera was releasing her film Anita & Me; and we had just found out that we’d gotten to No 1 on the UK chart with our Comic Relief single with Gareth Gates.
“The thing with 23 hours in someone’s company is that you get the raw version of each other, especially me, since I can’t sleep on a plane.
“I had no filter and Meera was very nice about it.
“It was an intense period, but that intensity made us both realise that we wanted to hang out with each other more.”
The couple married and welcomed their son two years later. Their relationship followed Meera Syal’s previous marriage to journalist Shekhar Bhatia, which lasted from 1989 to 2002.
She previously described that marriage as “semi-arranged”, explaining:
“I mean, I chose him, we’re still really good friends and I don’t regret it because we had some good years and an amazing daughter.”
Their daughter, Milli Bhatia, is a theatre director.
The Kumars at No. 42 ended in 2006 after becoming one of the most recognisable British Asian comedies of its era.
Meera Syal’s career has since continued across television, film, theatre and literature. In 2025, she was made a Dame for her services to literature, drama and charity, recognising a career spanning several decades.
