# Sanjeev Bhaskar

Sanjeev Bhaskar OBE (born 31 October 1963) is a British-Indian actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for his work in the BBC Radio 4 and BBC Two sketch comedy series Goodness Gracious Me and as the star of the sitcom The Kumars at No. 42. He also presented and starred in a documentary series called India with Sanjeev Bhaskar, in which he travelled to India and visited his ancestral home in today's Pakistan. Bhaskar's more dramatic acting roles include the lead role of Dr Prem Sharma in The Indian Doctor and a main role as DI Sunny Khan in Unforgotten. Bhaskar became chancellor of the University of Sussex in 2009. In 2006, Bhaskar was appointed an OBE.

## Early life and education

Bhaskar was born on 31 October 1963 in Ealing, Middlesex. His parents, Inderjit and Janak Bhaskar, came to the UK after the partition of India. His elder sister was born five years before him, and the family lived above their launderette His parents worked hard, and Sanjeev started working part-time when he was 14. in Heston, Hounslow, Middlesex. He was raised as a Hindu.
He earned a degree in marketing from Hatfield Polytechnic before landing a job as a marketing executive at IBM.

## Career

Bhaskar soon realised that he preferred comedy to marketing and joined forces with an old college friend, Nitin Sawhney, to start a musical comedy double act called The Secret Asians, which they first performed in 1996 at the now-defunct Tom Allen Arts Centre in East London. This performance was featured on a BBC magazine show called Reportage. They also performed extensively at the Watermans Arts Centre with numerous other acts at a regular Asian comedy night called One Nation Under a Groove...Innit. Their real break came when they were performing a show at the Ovalhouse in South London where, after a strong review in Time Out magazine by journalist and playwright Bonnie Greer, they were approached by Anil Gupta, the producer of what was to become the BBC sketch series Goodness Gracious Me.
In 1994 or 1995, Bhaskar had his first paid job as a performer with Tara Arts, a theatre company in south London.
Bhaskar has starred in a number of British-produced films, including The Guru, Notting Hill (very briefly), and Anita and Me. He also had a cameo as a shop owner in Yash Raj Films' production Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. He had a major role in the 2019 film, Yesterday, in which he and his wife, Meera Syal, played a married couple.
Bhaskar, the Kumars and Gareth Gates collectively released the official single for Comic Relief in 2003, "Spirit in the Sky", which spent three weeks at the top of the UK Singles chart and was the second highest-selling single of the year. In 2008 Bhaskar made his musical theatre debut as King Arthur in Spamalot at London's Palace Theatre.
As part of the BBC's series of programmes on the 60th anniversary of the independence of India and Pakistan, he filmed a BBC documentary series India with Sanjeev Bhaskar with director Deep Sehgal, which was broadcast in August 2007. According to the BBC it included "an emotional journey" to his father's ancestral home, now in Pakistan. His first book, India with Sanjeev Bhaskar, based on the documentary series, became a Sunday Times bestseller in 2007. He also featured in a Channel 4 documentary series called The House That Made Me. This show, produced by Nutopia in 2010, recreated his childhood home and introduced him to the characters of his youth.
He wrote and starred in the ITV sitcom Mumbai Calling and the UK tour of the hit American improv show Totally Looped.
On 31 October 2014, Bhaskar hosted Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, standing in for Simon Mayo on the BBC's flagship film show. He also played the lead character in the online animation Rajesh Finesse in 2014.
From 2015 until the present (season 5, 2023), he plays a lead role as DI Sunny Khan in cold case mystery series Unforgotten.
In January 2021, Bhaskar was cast in the Netflix adaptation of The Sandman.
In 2022, he appeared in the title role in a television series based on the Inspector Singh novels.

## Guest appearances

In October 2008, he was featured on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.
He appeared as a guest on the BBC's Top Gear in 2003, setting a time of 1:51.0 around a wet Top Gear test track in a Suzuki Liana, placing him 32nd on the original leader board. In March 2010 he featured on the BBC Radio 4 comedy show I've Never Seen Star Wars. On 23 July 2010 he was guest on the BBC comedy panel game Would I Lie To You?.

## Recognition and awards

In 2003, Bhaskar was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
In 2005, Bhaskar was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year Honours List.
On 23 February 2009, he was appointed chancellor of the University of Sussex, and he was formally installed at the university's summer graduation ceremony on 22 July 2009.
In April 2015, he was given the Outstanding Achievement in Television award at The Asian Awards.
On 26 July 2019, Bhaskar was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Sussex in recognition of his ten years as chancellor.

## Personal life

In January 2005, Bhaskar married comedian Meera Syal in Lichfield, Staffordshire. They have a son, Shaan, who was born at the Portland Hospital on 2 December 2005.
In February 2009, Bhaskar and other entertainers wrote an open letter to The Times protesting against the trial of leaders of the Baháʼí Faith then being held in Iran. He is a Liverpool Football Club supporter.

## Politics

Before the 2010 general election Bhaskar was one of 48 celebrities who signed a letter warning against Conservative Party policy towards the BBC.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | Zoo Rush 2: Destination New York | Ravi the Indian cobra | Voice role |
| 1998 | The Dance of Shiva | Sergeant Bakshi | Short film |
| 1999 | Notting Hill | Loud Man in Restaurant | |
| 2001 | The Mystic Masseur | Beharry | |
| 2001 | Inferno | Jaz | Short film |
| 2002 | Anita and Me | Mr Kumar | |
| 2002 | The Guru | Rasphal the Cook | |
| 2006 | Scoop | Poker Players | Credited as Sanjeev Bhasker |
| 2007 | Jhoom Barabar Jhoom | Shopkeeper | |
| 2010 | It's a Wonderful Afterlife | Mr Bhatti the Curry Man | |
| 2010 | Not the Messiah: He's a Very Naughty Boy | Mountie | |
| 2010 | Jackboots on Whitehall | Rupee/Old Gil/King | Voice role |
| 2010 | London Boulevard | Sanji Raju | |
| 2011 | The Itch of the Golden Nit | Ten Heart Hero (voice) | Short film |
| Arthur Christmas | Lead Elf | Voice role |
| Lazy Uncle | Dad | Short film |
| 2013 | The Zero Theorem | Doctor 1 | |
| 2015 | Absolutely Anything | Ray | |
| 2016 | Thunderbirds 1965 | Himself | Short film Documentary |
| 2017 | And The Winner Isn't | Himself | Documentary film |
| 2017 | Paddington 2 | Dr Jafri | |
| 2019 | Yesterday | Jed Malik | |
| 2019 | Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans | Mr. Felix | |
| 2020 | Dragon Rider | Mad Doc | Voice role |
| 2023 | The Flash | David Singh | |
| 2024 | Paddington in Peru | Dr Jafri | Cameo |
Key :
| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1991 | The Real McCoy | Various Roles | Unknown episodes |
| 1995 | Porkpie | Sanjay | Episode: "And Lead us not into Temptation" |
| 1996 | Bollywood or Bust | Himself (Host) | |
| 1997 | Captain Butler | Adeel | 6 episodes |
| 1997 | We Know Where You Live | Various Characters | 12 episodes |
| 1998 | Jonathan Creek | Doctor | Episode: "Black Canary" |
| 1998 | Light Lunch | Himself | Episode: "Goodness Gracious What a Great Show" |
| 1998 | Keeping Mum | Ahmed | Episodes: "The Card Game" and "The Morning After" |
| 1998–2015 | Goodness Gracious Me | Various | 21 episodes |
| 1999–2001 | Small Potatoes | Rick Roy | 13 episodes |
| 2001 | We Know Where You Live | | Television film |
| 2001–2006 | The Kumars at No. 42 | Sanjeev Kumar | Lead role 53 episodes |
| 2002 | Dalziel and Pascoe | Graham Shah | Episode: "Mens Sana" |
| 2005 | Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee | Akaash | 3 episodes |
| 2005 | Chopratown | Vik Chopra | Television film |
| 2005 | Angell's Hell | John Angell | Television film |
| 2005–2008 | The New Paul O'Grady Show | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | The Children's Party at the Palace | Robin Hood | Television special |
| 2007–2008 | Mumbai Calling | Kenny Gupta | 8 episodes |
| 2009 | Natural World | Narrator | Documentary series Episode: "Man-eating Tigers of the Sundarbans" |
| 2010 | Grandpa In My Pocket | Rodger Splodger | Episode: "Great Aunt Loretta's Not-So-Great Plan" |
| 2010–2013 | The Indian Doctor | Prem Sharma | 15 episodes |
| 2012 | Silent Witness | Abdul Aziz | Episode: "And Then I Fell in Love" |
| 2014 | Midsomer Murders | Armand Stone | Episode: "The Killings of Copenhagen" |
| 2014 | The Kumars | Sanjeev Kumar | 6 episodes |
| 2014 | Doctor Who | Colonel Ahmed | Episode: "Death in Heaven" |
| 2015 | Drunk History | Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell | Episode 1.8 |
| 2015 | Bollywood and Beyond: A Century of Indian Cinema | Himself (presenter) | Television film Documentary |
| 2015 | Horrible Histories | Various characters | Episode: "Naughty Napoleon Special", "Gorgeous George III", "Tricky Queen Vicky", "Wily Winston Churchill" |
| 2015–present | Unforgotten | DI Sunil "Sunny" Khan | |
| 2016 | Thunderbirds Are Go | Ethan Sullivan (voice) | Episode: "City Under the Sea" |
| 2017 | Horrible Histories | Singing Greek God | Episode: "Monstrous Musicians" |
| 2017–2019 | Porters | Mr Pradeep | 7 episodes |
| 2018–2020 | Thomas & Friends | Shankar (voice) | UK & US versions |
| 2019 | Icons: The Greatest Person of the 20th Century | Category presenter ("Advocate") | 2 episodes, activists category and live final |
| 2019 | Red Nose Bodyguard | Interviewer | Red Nose Day 2019 special |
| 2019 | Good Omens | Giles Baddicombe | Episode: "The Very Last Day of the Rest of Their Lives" |
| 2019 | The Switch | Host | 20 episodes |
| 2020–present | Sandylands | Les Vegas | Television miniseries |
| 2021–present | Secrets of the Transport Museum | Narrator | Documentary series |
| 2022 | The Sandman | Cain | Episode: "Imperfect Hosts" |
| TBA | Inspector Singh Investigates | Inspector Singh | |
* The Way It Is (2000) as various characters
* Goodness Gracious Me: Back Where They Came From (2001) as various characters
* Comic Relief 2003 (2003) as Sanjeev Kumar
* Celebration's Advertisement (2004) – as himself
* L'Entente Cordiale (2006) as Commander Bashir
* India with Sanjeev Bhaskar (2007) as himself
* Dawn French's Boys Who Do Comedy – as himself

### Written

* Goodness Gracious Me (1998)
* The Kumars at No. 42 (2001–06)
* Mumbai Calling (2007–08)

### Composed

* Goodness Gracious Me (1998)
* Mumbai Calling Pilot Episode (2007)

### Stage

* Art (2002) Whitehall Theatre, London, as Yvan
* Spamalot (2008) Palace Theatre, London, as King Arthur
* Totally Looped (2009) UK Tour