MEDIA PERSONALITY
Meera Syal CBE
Since winning the EMMA Award
Meera Syal is a British-Indian Comedian, Writer, Playwright, and Actress who was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy in 2003 and has become one of the UK’s best-known Asian media personalities. Meera was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2015 for her services to drama and literature and was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship in 2023.
In 2017, Meera was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Meera is a proud ambassador for Breast Cancer Care and the Alzheimer’s Society and a long-standing patron of the Newham Asian Women’s Project, which provides refuge and advice for women and children escaping domestic violence. Meera has continued appearing in mainstream films and TV shows such as Alice Through the Looking Glass, Doctor Strange, Riviera, Paddington 2, Yesterday, and The Sandman.
Background (Before 2002)
Meera Syal was born in Wolverhampton to Punjabi parents, and her original name was Feroza Syal. She later adopted the name Meera Syal and began her long-standing acting career with roles in renowned theatre productions, including the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” David Hare’s “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” Kenneth Branagh’s production of “Romeo and Juliet,” and Jeremy Herrin’s West End transfer of “Noises Off.”
Meera wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film Bhaji on the Beach. In 1996, Syal played Miss Chauhan, a high school football coach, in the film Beautiful Thing. Her debut novel, the semi-autobiographical “Anita and Me,” was published that same year. It went on to win the Betty Trask Award, be shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize, and be adapted for film and stage. Meera was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1997. Meera’s next novel, Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee, was published in 1999 and adapted into a TV miniseries in 2005. Meera later became known for the award-winning comedy shows “Goodness Gracious Me” and “The Kumars at Number 42,” the latter for which she received a BAFTA nomination.
