‘Citizen Khan’ – Mrs Khan (Shobu Kapoor) comes clean…

October 30 2015

It’s back and more outrageous than ever and one of its pivotal characters tries to remember what her first name is…

By Suman Bhuchar

PRIME-TIME BBC sitcom “Citizen Khan” hits us for a fourth series on Friday (October 30).

One of the undoubted stars alongside creator and Mr Khan himself (Adil Ray) is Shobu Kapoor, who plays the stoic and sensible Mrs. Khan, a perfect foil to the self-appointed ‘community leader’.

In many ways, Mr and Mrs Khan have become an integral part of the British cultural landscape.

Kapoor, who has had a busy year, juggling theatre, TV and film producing, took time out to talk to www.asianculturevulture.com about women and breaking the glass ceiling and just keeping calm and carrying on.

The first question is what is Mrs Khan’s first name?

Initially, she didn’t have a first name, because within the Asian culture, parents are always addressed by an ‘honorific’ form, explained Kapoor.

“The only time Mrs. Khan was given her first name is in the name badge when she went to work,” she said. “It’s mad but I can’t remember what it is!”

www.asianculturevulture.com will give a tweet salute to any reader who can remember what this is?

Kapoor described Mrs Khan’s role as the ‘centre piece’ of the sitcom and compared it to a poem by the 16th century poet, John Donne, where she is like the still part of a compass and he is like the roaming point but connected with the centre.

She explained that in the last series, she was given a job so she could go out of the house, and “Citizen Khan” has evolved from looking extremely traditional in Series 1 – from the clothes and the look to it being ultra-modern stylish in the forthcoming series. “Although, it’s the style of the 1970s, it still reflects modern Britain now.”

When the sitcom first aired in the UK in August 2012, the BBC received around 200 complaints and it was accused of stereotyping and poking fun at faith. Now, as we head into the fourth series,
British audiences have taken it to heart and seem to enjoy the silliness and incisive observations. It has even got a prime time slot and is on BBC1.

“I’ve seen the evolution, I get a lot of positive responses for across the board and most of all boys from aged 12-14,” she laughed. “It is a sitcom based around a family and appeals across ethnicities and culture.”

In the new opening episode, we see the Khan family enjoy a family day out to visit Farley Manor, owned by Lord Anstruther (played by Peter Bowles), and the ensuing mayhem. In this series, actress Krupa Pattani takes on the role of Shazia – the good older married daughter (replacing Maya Sondhi who left in the last series).

Kapoor explained that the show is recorded before a live audience at BBC Media City, Salford and that has been something of a juggling act for her lately as she has also had a key role in the comedy satire, “Dinner With Saddam” (currently on at the Menier Chocolate factory, London until November 13).

She had to finish an evening show, go up to Manchester, rehearse her role and come back down the next day – a feat she continued for a whole month of October while “Citizen Khan” was being filmed.

Kapoor is one of the key faces in the British theatre and film landscape, beginning her career on stage originally with Tara Arts in “Danton’s Death” (1989), then Tamasha Theatre Company in the “Asian neighbours”, “House of the Sun”(1991) and “Women of the Dust” (1992).

She recalled how a BBC casting director (Jane Deitch) came to see “Women of the Dust” and auditioned six of the Asian women from that play, and ended up casting three in the seminal BBC Soap, “Eastenders” – Kapoor, Sudha Bhuchar and Jamila Massey.

Kapoor came to household attention as part of the couple – ‘Gita’ and ‘Sanjay Kapoor’ (Deepak Verma) who ran a market stall in Albert Square. Kapoor spent five years at “Eastenders”, 1993-1998. (Sudha Bhuchar played her sister, Meena while Massey played Sanjay’s mother, Neelam).

A freelance career in theatre, radio and film followed including appearances in “Bend it Like Beckham”, “The Jury” (TV series), “Doctors”, “Holby City”, “Doctor Who”, and plays like, “What Fatima Did” at Hampstead Theatre, “Immigrant Dairies” (Brighton Fringe) and “Silver Street“.

A few years ago, she set up Roman Candle Productions, along with her friend, Annetta Laufer whom she met at the Drama Studio London in 1988, when Kapoor had just arrived from Bombay and Laufer from Germany.

After that initial meeting they went their separate ways. Decades later they bumped into each other at the Tate Gallery in London and decided that the best way to get something done was to do it themselves.

In August 2013 they set up their company to make the films they wanted to make and challenge the shortfall of women’s creativity in the media industry.

Since then, they have made their first short film, “Scarlet“, about an African migrant in Hastings – which will be on at the Under Wire film Festival at Hackney Picture House on November 21and has been selected for the 13th London Short Film Festival from January 8- 17. It has already won the Best Screenplay award at the Indian Cine Film Festival in Mumbai in September.

* ‘Citizen Khan‘, BBC1, 8.30pm from Friday, October 30