British actor, comedian and TV presenter Sanjeev Bhaskar may be best known for his sketch comedy series Goodness Gracious Me, but he has since segued into more dramatic acting roles, such as playing DI Sunny Khan in Unforgotten.
Born in Ealing in 1963, Sanjeev grew up in Hounslow. He’s the son of Punjabi parents, and met his wife of 20 years, actress Meera Syal, while working on Goodness Gracious Me in the 1990s.
Sanjeev Bhaskar met wife Meera Syal during their Goodness Gracious Me era
Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar both starred in Goodness Gracious Me, a BBC sketch comedy show that ran from 1996 until 2001, first as a radio show and then on TV.
Its stars were Sanjeev and Meera, plus Kulvinder Ghir and Nina Wadia.
Immensely popular in its day and a touchstone for British Asians working in the arts and entertainment industry to this day, Goodness Gracious Me found good-natured laughs in the lived experience of British Asians in the UK.
Many years after they started working closely with each other, Sanjeev and Meera went on a promo trip to Sydney in 2003. The flight from the UK lasted 23 hours – plenty of time to fall in love!
I had no filter and Meera was very nice about it.
“We were on such a high,” he told G2 Magazine in 2022. “We were being flown first class to promote the show, 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 number one 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.”
They married in relative secret in Staffordshire in 2005
At the time, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal were co-starring in The Kumars at No. 42, an award-winning sitcom that ran for seven series from 2001 to 2006.
The Kumars also enjoyed success in India and Malaysia, as well as New Zealand, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
“Following enquiries, Sanjeev and Meera are happy to confirm that they did get married last week at a very quiet, family-only ceremony,” Syal’s agent confirmed in late January of 2005.
The Standard quotes Meera as saying they were both “ecstatically happy”.
“It was a very small family gathering with no showbusiness friends. We are quite a private couple and just wanted a small family affair. It was good fun. We have not even talked about a honeymoon yet, we have just been too busy.”
A friend reportedly said: “It was all very low-key although they did have a cake and a get together afterwards for their families.
“They have known for some time that they wanted to make their relationship more formal and they are an incredibly close couple. It is lovely to see them so obviously happy.”
Sanjeev doesn’t regret turning down work in order to be a good parent
Bhaskar told G2 he openly accepts that his wife is “just much better than I am at everything”.
He values the team and tries to do what’s best for their partnership, rather than just for his career. And the same goes for her.
As a result, he (and presumably she) has had to turn down work opportunities, so that there could always be one of them at home to parent their son Shaan. He was born in 2005.
But Sanjeev has no regrets about turning things down. And they have done well, between them, to keep their son out of the public eye.
Speaking to The Guardian, he shared their secret to a balanced relationship. “It’s key to value the team and to always do what’s best for our partnership, rather than just our individual careers. We’ve tried to tag team when it comes to work, so there was always a parent at home, and I don’t regret turning things down for that.”
Disagreements and arguments, and being a proud dad
Sanjeev is full of praise for his wife of 20 years. She’s a “brilliant cook,” the Mirror quotes him as saying.
“Her aubergine lasagne and lemon drizzle cake are phenomenal.”
His son, meanwhile, has a “terrific voice,” and Sanjeev gets “such a thrill” out of seeing him being happy.
“One of my proudest moments as a dad was when Shaan said that he got his giggly, quirky sense of humour from me. Parents have a habit of projecting our fears of the universe onto our kids, so it was really nice to know that I’ve been able to transfer something so positive!”
He and Meera do have arguments and disagreements, he has previously admitted, saying: “We do have disagreements and arguments, but it’s never about scoring points.
“I wouldn’t say I’m romantic, so we don’t have date nights very often. I’m more practical – if we need a new garden strimmer, I don’t need to be asked twice!”
Season 6 of Unforgotten airs Sundays at 9pm on ITV1.
Read more: Unforgotten star Nicola Walker made co-star Sanjeev Bhaskar cry with touching leaving gift
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