Editing Meera Syal (section)

== Acting and writing career ==
In 2023, she was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship, its highest accolade, for her career on screen. During her studies in Manchester, Syal joined the [[Stephen Joseph Studio]], acting and later writing stage plays. On graduation, she had secured a place to study for an MA in drama and [[psychotherapy]] at the [[University of Leeds]], and then to study for a [[Postgraduate Certificate in Education|PGCE]] to teach. However, she had also co-written the one-woman play ''One of Us'' with Jackie Shapiro, in which Syal performed all fifteen parts, about a West Midlands-born ethnic Indian girl who ran away from home to become an actress. First performed at the Stephen Joseph Studio, she then performed it at the [[National Student Drama Festival]] where it won a prize to perform at the [[Edinburgh International Festival]], where it also won a prize. As a result, a director from the [[Royal Court Theatre]] contacted Syal, and asked her to perform in a play at the Royal Court on a three-year contract.<ref>Interview with Meera Syal, The Two Shot Podcast, 28 May 2018</ref>

Syal wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film ''[[Bhaji on the Beach]]'', directed by [[Gurinder Chadha]], of ''[[Bend It Like Beckham]]'' fame. In 1996 she played Miss Chauhan, a high school football coach in the film ''[[Beautiful Thing (film)|Beautiful Thing]]''. She was on the team that wrote and performed in the [[BBC]] comedy sketch show ''[[Goodness Gracious Me (TV & radio)|Goodness Gracious Me]]'' (1996–2001), originally on radio and then on television.<ref name="independent1" /> She was a scriptwriter on [[A.R. Rahman]] and [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]]'s ''[[Bombay Dreams]]''<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Inverne |first=James |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2056088,00.html |title=Welcome to Bollywood |magazine=TIME |date=17 June 2002 |access-date=23 August 2013 |archive-date=24 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824141334/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2056088,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and she played the grandmother Sushila in the [[International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences|International Emmy]]-award-winning series ''[[The Kumars at No. 42]]'', which ran for seven series,<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00x95hr |title=BBC Radio 4 ''My Teenage Diary'', 11 January 2011 |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=29 April 2012 |access-date=23 August 2013 |archive-date=12 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712112706/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00x95hr |url-status=live }}</ref> reviving the character in 2021 for [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''Gossip and Goddesses with Granny Kumar''.

In October 2008, she starred in the [[BBC Two]] sitcom ''[[Beautiful People (British TV series)|Beautiful People]]''. This role, as Aunty Hayley, continued in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rushton |first=Katherine |url=http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/new-bbc-sitcom-for-meera-syal/1324505.article |title=New BBC sitcom for Meera Syal &#124; News &#124; Broadcast |publisher=Broadcastnow.co.uk |date=6 May 2008 |access-date=23 August 2013 |archive-date=30 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230235035/http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/new-bbc-sitcom-for-meera-syal/1324505.article |url-status=live }}</ref> Syal starred in the eleventh series of ''[[Holby City]]'' as consultant Tara Sodi.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/meera-syal-to-join-holby-city-382141 |title=Meera Syal to join Holby City as a moody doc – 3am & Mirror Online |publisher=Mirror.co.uk |date=13 March 2009 |access-date=23 August 2013 |archive-date=9 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509120408/http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/meera-syal-to-join-holby-city-382141 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2009, she guest starred in ''Minder'' and starred in the film ''Mad, Sad & Bad''.<ref>{{cite web |author=jno |url=http://www.minder.org/episodeguide/episodeguide_S11_index.htm |title=Series 11 |publisher=Minder.org |access-date=23 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230234509/http://www.minder.org/episodeguide/episodeguide_S11_index.htm |archive-date=30 December 2013  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Philip French |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/aug/02/mad-sad-and-bad-review |title=Mad, Sad & Bad &#124; Film review |work=The Observer |publisher=theguardian.com |date=August 2009 |access-date=23 August 2013 |archive-date=10 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210112215/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/aug/02/mad-sad-and-bad-review |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2010, she played [[Shirley Valentine]] in a one-woman show at the [[Menier Chocolate Factory]], later transferring to [[Trafalgar Studios]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Kate Kellaway |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/jul/11/meera-syal-shirley-valentine-menier |title=Meera Syal: Interview |work=The Observer |publisher=theguardian.com |date=10 July 2010 |access-date=23 August 2013 |archive-date=30 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230234648/http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/jul/11/meera-syal-shirley-valentine-menier |url-status=live }}</ref> In the same year she played Nasreen Chaudhry in [[The Hungry Earth|two episodes]] of ''[[Doctor Who (series 5)|Doctor Who]]'' alongside [[Matt Smith]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sfx.co.uk/2010/05/17/hungry-earth-interview/ |title=Doctor Who The Hungry Earth Interview Meera Syal |publisher=Sfx.co.uk |date=17 May 2010 |access-date=23 August 2013 |archive-date=21 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100521043539/http://www.sfx.co.uk/2010/05/17/hungry-earth-interview/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Syal's memoir is due to be published in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=W&N pre-empts writer and actress Syal's memoir |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/wn-pre-empts-writer-and-actress-syals-memoir |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}}</ref>