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Anita & Me

As the daughter of the only Punjabi family in a small English village in the early '70s, Meena – played by new find Chandeep Uppal - is stuck with a foot in two worlds. Hilarious, saucy, witty, and possessing a robust spirit, young Meena is - much to her traditionalist parents' chagrin - no angel: she fibs, commits minor thefts and misbehaves, sometimes to the horror of her prim and proper aunties.

Alternately amused and embarrassed by her comically quirky family and their love of the traditional ways. At the same time, she idolises local girl, Anita Rutter – played by Anna Brewster - the most outrageous, sassy, beautiful blonde in town, who runs a gang called 'the wenches'.

Teenage Hormones

Meena contrives to wheedle her way into Anita's life, but the arrival of a baby brother, teenage hormones, impending entrance exams for the posh grammar school and a motorcycling rebel without a future threaten to turn Meena's salad days sour.

Anita and Me features a widely experienced all star cast including: Sanjeev Bhaskar (Goodness Gracious Me), Kathy Burke (Kevin & Perry Go Large, Elizabeth) Ayesha Dharker (Bombay Dreams, The Terrorist), Lynn Redgrave (Shine, Gods And Monsters, Howards End), Max Beesley (Tom Jones), Zohra Segal (Bhaji On The Beach), Mark Williams (TV’s The Fast Show), Kabir Bedi (The Lost Empire), Christine Tremarco (Nice Guy Eddie), Meera Syal, writer of Bhaji On The Beach and star of Goodness Gracious Me. The film also introduces Anna Brewster and Chandeep Uppal as the two leads.

Meet the Cast

Meera Syal – who plays Auntie Shaila – also wrote and co-produced the screenplay for the film, adapted from her award winning novel of the same name.

Meera wrote her first play, One of Us whilst studying at Manchester University for a degree in English and Drama, which led her to win the National Studio Drama Award. She has appeared in numerous British television series and films, including Absolutely Fabulous, Sammie and Rosie Get Laid and the TV comedy series The Kumars at No 42, which was written by and co-stars Sanjeev Bhasker. She is also due to co-star with Jasper Carrott in a new sitcom, about a racially mixed marriage.

With Sanjeev Bhasker, Meera Syal is also one of the team who writes and stars in the ground breaking Asian comedy series Goodness Gracious Me.

Praise for Debut Novel

Anita and Me, Meera Syal’s first novel, won the Betty Trask Fiction Award and was nominated for the Guardian Fiction Award. It has sold a million copies to date. Her second novel Life Is Not All Ha Ha Hee Hee - published to some acclaim in 1999 - has already been optioned for adaptation to the screen.

Her first screenplay, Bhaji on the Beach, was directed by Gurinder Chadha in 1993. In addition, Meera Syal has written the book based on the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Bombay Dreams - itself inspired by the Bollywood film industry - which stars Ayesha Dharker.

Newcomers

Chandeep Uppal – who plays Meena - and Anna Brewster – Anita - are both newcomers to the big screen and were cast in the leading roles of Anita and Meena after being picked from thousands of aspiring teenagers. Both youngsters were initially encouraged to audition for their parts by their school teachers.

Actor, writer and comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar – who appears as Papa in the film - is probably best known to British audiences for his multiple comic roles in the award-winning television series Goodness Gracious Me. The hit series began on radio, then transferred to BBC television, where it gained large audiences as well as critical praise.

Sanjeev's other television appearances include featured roles in comedy series Small Potatoes and The Grimleys. Bhaskar wrote and starred in the recent series of The Kumars at Number 42, in which he was responsible for casting Meera Syal, as his grandmother.

On film, he made a cameo appearance in the romantic comedy blockbuster Notting Hill, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, and will be seen next in Merchant Ivory's Mystic Masseur, where his co-stars include Ayesha Dharker and Zohra Segal.

Ayesha Dharker

Ayesha Dharker – here playing Mama - began her film career at the age of nine, when she played the lead role in the French film Manika,The Girl Who Lived Twice, which won a prize at Cannes Film Festival. She was recently seen on screen as Queen Jamillia, in George Lucas' space opera prequel Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.

Born and raised in Bombay, Dharker has acted all over the world, coming to international attention for her lead role in The Terrorist, directed by Santosh Sivan. The film won three awards at the National Film Awards, as well as a nomination for Best Actress for Dharker, in addition to three awards at the Cairo Film Festival, which included Best Actress.

Her other recent roles include leading roles in films as diverse as the Emmy award-winning Hallmark mini-series version of Arabian Nights and the Merchant Ivory production Mystic Masseur. Ayesha Dharker will shortly take the leading role on the London stage in Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical Bombay Dreams, written by Meera Syal.

Gimme Gimme Gimme

One of Britain's best known actresses - Kathy Burke – appears as Deirdre. Kathy’s TV credits include appearances in the award-winning comedy series Absolutely Fabulous, Harry Enfield and Chums, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Common As Muck and Tom Jones (both the latter directed by Metin Huseyin), and the drama Mr Wroe's Virgins, for which Burke was justly awarded the Best Actress at the Royal Television Society Awards.

Named as Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Gary Oldman's Nil by Mouth, Kathy’s other film roles include Dancing At Lughnasa, directed by Pat O'Connor, the Oscar nominated Elizabeth, directed by Shekhar Kapur, David Kane's romantic comedy This Year's Love, and Kevin and Perry Go Large, co-starring with Harry Enfield. Her most recent role is in Shane Meadows' Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, in which she starred alongside Rhys Ifans and Shirley Henderson.

Zohra Segal - who plays Nanima - has a career spanning stage, television and film, both in the UK and her native India. Recent film appearances include roles in Gurinda Chada's Bend It Like Beckham and Bhaji on the Beach, scripted by Meera Syal. She has also appeared in Merchant Ivory productions Mystic Masseur, The Courtesans and The Guru, as well as John Mackenzie's The Honorary Consul.

On British television Segal has appeared in series including Tandoori Nights, The Bill and the award-winning epic mini-series The Jewel in the Crown.

Now in her eighties,Zohra Segal is a leading actress and Dance Director of the Prithvi Theatre, Bombay, in addition to being vice president of the Indian Peoples Theatre Association and Principal of the National Academy of Dance and Drama in New Delhi.

Anita & Me is a film by Metin (Tom Jones, Common As Muck) Huseyin and is Produced by Paul (Rogue Trader) Raphael. Anita & Me opened the 2002 Birmingham International Film Festival,and is now on general release.

More information available in Days Out, Film