Diverse casting is window dressing if power structures do not change: Meera Syal

Actress and writer Meera Syal thinks casting is becoming more culturally diverse, but feels this is “window dressing” if things are not “changing fundamentally in the power structures”.

The Kumars At No 42 star reflected on her experiences as a British Asian woman in the film and TV industry for her Alternative MacTaggart discussion at Edinburgh TV Festival.

During the chat, she told the festival’s executive chair Fatima Salaria: “I started writing because of the kind of roles being offered to me when I tried to get into television, which was the usual parade of victim of arranged marriage, sister of a victim of an arranged marriage, mother of a victim of an arranged marriage.

“Later on, now of course it’s very different, mother of terrorist, grandmother of terrorist.”

Syal added that she has been “blessed” in recent years with “interesting” roles and that she feels onscreen representation has improved.

“I think in the casting things really are changing and that’s fantastic for all of us but I’m worried that it’s window dressing when things aren’t changing fundamentally in the power structures,” she said.

The actress noted that she feels there is a “glut” of individuals coming through on entry training schemes who then get stuck in a “huge bottleneck” which prevents them rising through the ranks.

She added: “How do you get those people there to actually get their hands on the grit, the dirt, to learn their craft, to have the room to make mistakes, like everyone needs.

“We do have a way to go but it’s got to be collaborative and that’s why I’m coming back to the mentors.

“I don’t see it as a defeat if you have to go to somebody more powerful who may not be the same culture as you to go ‘I need you to open this door’. Maybe that is a joint responsibility.”

Syal rose to fame as one of the creators and stars of BBC sketch comedy show Goodness Gracious Me, which originally aired on BBC Radio 4 in the late 1990s and was later televised on BBC Two, and is also well known for her role in The Kumars At No 42 where she played the grandmother.

Reflecting on how she got her break with Goodness Gracious Me, she said it was “weirdly easier” in the 1900s to have a story which was more diverse commissioned then as there was a “hunger” to tap into unexplored stories.

The show – which also helped propel the carers of Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nina Wadia and Kulvinder Ghir – ended after three series.

“I think it was a turning point in all our careers in terms of visibility and we all went on to do other things but I think we were all quite sad that we weren’t nurtured after we’d had this huge success”, Syal said.

The actress recalled seeing fellow creatives from other popular shows at the time getting mentored, adding: “I think that was my disappointment, but I think we brought something really wonderful to the BBC and we would have loved to do more.”

Asked is she thinks the cast were not brought on to future projects together afterwards due to it being a potential “risk” for the broadcasters, Syal agreed that she feels that might have been the case.

Syal added: “It’s those programmes that actually changed the landscape if you’ve got the ovaries to do it.”

Discussing her own personal experience of growing up a child of first generation immigrants, she said she had to accept she would be “shape-shifting” between her personal and private lives as part of her armour – but feels this helped her as a creative.

“Not belonging is the most creative place to sit because you are always seeing the picture,” she said.

Earlier this year, Syal was awarded a Bafta Fellowship, the academy’s highest honour.

Launched in 1997, the Alternative MacTaggart lecture offers a platform for different and diverse voices in the television industry and has previously been delivered by actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, actress and presenter Jameela Jamil, ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and American TV host Jerry Springer.