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Meera Syal MBE (born Feeroza Syal on 27 June 1961) is a British comedienne, writer, playwright, singer, journalist, producer and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created Goodness Gracious Me and became one of the UK's best-known Indian personalities portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, Ummi, in The Kumars at No. 42. She was awarded the MBE in the 1997 New Year Honours and in 2003 was listed in The Observer as one of the fifty funniest acts in British comedy. Her Punjabi-born parents came to England from New Delhi. She was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire (now West... MORE

Meera Syal MBE (born Feeroza Syal on 27 June 1961) is a British comedienne, writer, playwright, singer, journalist, producer and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created Goodness Gracious Me and became one of the UK's best-known Indian personalities portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, Ummi, in The Kumars at No. 42. She was awarded the MBE in the 1997 New Year Honours and in 2003 was listed in The Observer as one of the fifty funniest acts in British comedy. Her Punjabi-born parents came to England from New Delhi. She was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire (now West Midlands) and grew up in Essington, a mining village a few miles to the north. When she was a young girl the family moved to Bloxwich. She attended Queen Mary's High School in nearby Walsall, and then studied English and drama at Manchester University. Syal wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film Bhaji on the Beach, directed by Gurinder Chadha, of Bend It Like Beckham fame. She was one of the team who wrote and performed in the BBC comedy sketch show Goodness Gracious Me (1996–2001), originally on radio and then on television. She achieved a number one record with Gareth Gates and her co-stars from LESS