Meera Syal Biography 
Meera Syal is a British actress, comedian, writer, singer and journalist of Indian origin. She was one of the team members of BBC comedy sketch show ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ which gave her instant fame. She is married to noted British comedian of Punjabi orgin, Sanjeev Bhaskar. In 2003, the couple was listed among the top 50 funniest actors in Indian comedy by ‘The Observer’. She portrayed Sanjeev's grandmother, Ummi, in The Kumars at No. 42 which made her one of the UK's best-known Indian personalities. This popular show ran for seven series. She was awarded the MBE in the 1997 New Year Honours.
She was born as Feroza Syal on 27 June 1961 at Wolverhampton, England to Punjabi couple who came from New Delhi. She was grown up in Essington, a mining village a few miles to the north. When she was young, the family moved to Bloxwich where they lived in a small Midlands mining village, which later became the backdrop of her semi-autobiographical novel, Anita and Me. She published her second novel, Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee in 1999. She schooled at Queen Mary's High School, Walsall and then studied graduated in English and drama at Manchester University.
Syal wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film ‘Bhaji on the Beach’, for Indian director Gurinder Chadha. She was a team member of BBC comedy sketch show - Goodness Gracious Me (1996–2001). She also joined A. R. Rahman and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bombay Dreams, as a scriptwriter. In 2008 she starred in the BBC2 sitcom Beautiful People where she portrayed the role of Aunty Hayley. Syal was first married to journalist Shekhar Bhatia with whom she had a daughter Chameli. She married Sanjeev Bhaskar in 2005.
Published: N/A
Updated: March 01, 2014
