Shobu Kapoor is an Indian British actress. She is most notable for playing the role of Gita Kapoor, the long-suffering wife of market trader Sanjay (

Deepak Verma Deepak Verma MBE (born 11 February 1969) is a British actor, writer and television/film producer of Indian Punjabi descent and Hindu heritage. His role as market-stall trader Sanjay Kapoor in long-running BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' brou ...

), in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' from 1993 to 1998.

Early life

Shobu Kapoor was born in India. She attended the

University of Mumbai University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

, where she earned her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Literature in 1986. She immigrated to the United Kingdom in 1988. Kapoor trained at

Drama Studio London Drama Studio London (often abbreviated as DSL) is a British drama school in London. It is accredited by the Federation of Drama Schools. The principal is Emma Lucia Hands. The Drama Studio London was started in 1966 by Peter Layton. It focus ...

Career

After leaving ''Eastenders'', Kapoor appeared in the 2002 film ''

Bend It Like Beckham ''Bend It Like Beckham'' is a 2002 Sports film, sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anu ...

'' and the TV series ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' (2004). She has also been in ''Chicken Tikka Masala'' (2005), ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' (2005) and ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'', where she appeared as five characters between 2000 and 2006. In 2006, she appeared in the BBC drama '' Banglatown Banquet'' and the Irish

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

soap ''

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster RTE, it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several awards and is both the most po ...

'' (as Talayeh Kirmani). In 2007, she played the minor role of Umi in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

drama '' Shameless''. In 2008, she appeared in " Journey's End", the series four finale of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', where her character perished at the hands of the

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of extremely xenophobic mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by writer Terry Nation and first appeared in th ...

s. Other film roles include Taj's mother in '' Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj'' (2006) and Mrs Khan in ''

Mischief Night Mischief Night is an informal holiday on which children, teenagers and adults engage in jokes, pranks, vandalism, or parties. It is known by a variety of names including Devil's Night (particularly in Detroit), Gate Night, Goosey Night, Moving ...

'' (2006). She portrayed the mother of

Meredith Kercher Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher (28 December 1985 – 1 November 2007) was a British student on Student exchange program, exchange from the University of Leeds who was murdered at the age of 21 in Perugia, Italy. Kercher was found dead on the f ...

in the TV film '' Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy'' (2011). Kapoor played the roles of Shazia Malik in the

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...

radio soap '' Silver Street'' and Razia Khan in the

sitcom ''

Citizen Khan ''Citizen Khan'' is a British sitcom produced by the BBC and created by Adil Ray. It ran for five series, from 2012 to 2016. It is set in Sparkhill, South Birmingham, described by its lead character, a British Pakistani man named Mr Khan (Ray), ...

''. In 2013, she co-founded the independent film and television company, Roman Candle Productions, with Annetta Laufer. She worked there, producing short films until she left in 2016. In 2015, she made a guest appearance in the

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

show '' Hank Zipzer''. That year, Kapoor was announced as part of the cast of

Anthony Horowitz Anthony John Horowitz (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His works for children and young adult readers include the '' Alex Rider'' series featuring a 14-year-old British boy who spi ...

's play ''Dinner with Saddam'' on the West End. In 2020, Kapoor appeared in '' The Other One'' as Mishti. In 2021, she appeared in ''

'' playing Mona Nadkarni, a 'friend' of Dr Rashid Masum's family, who was brought into the emergency department by Rash's father. She made an appearance in

Greg Davies Gregory Daniel Davies ( ; born 14 May 1968) is a Welsh comedian, actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known for his roles as Mr Gilbert in ''The Inbetweeners'' (2008–2010), Ken Thompson in ''Cuckoo'' (2012–2019), Dan Davies in '' Man ...

' BBC comedy '' The Cleaner'' the same year. In 2022, she appeared as Lady Sheffield in the second season of

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

- romance show ''

Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American alternative history regency romance television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series Bridgerton (novel series), of the same name by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted ...

''. Kapoor joined the cast of the 2022 television film adaption of

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...

' children's book ''Gangsta Granny Strikes Again!'' She appeared as Fatima Khan in Nida Manzoor's action comedy film '' Polite Society'' (2023).

Filmography

Film

Television

On stage

Audio dramas

Radio dramas

Filmmaking

As producer

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapoor, Shobu 20th-century British actresses 21st-century British actresses Actresses from Birmingham, West Midlands British film actresses British radio actresses British soap opera actresses British television actresses Living people Place of birth missing (living people) British people of Indian descent Year of birth missing (living people)