Whether you recognise Sanjeev Bhaskar OBE as the calm and empathetic detective Sunny Khan on Unforgotten or from the hit sitcoms Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42, one thing is clear: he has a remarkable ability to bring both depth and humour to every character he portrays.
As Unforgotten series 6 is on the horizon, you may want to know more about the talented actor and comedian. Here's everything you need to know:
How old is Sanjeev Bhaskar?
Sanjeev Bhaskar was born on the 31st October 1963, which makes him 61 years old.
Sanjeev Bhaskar's family
Sanjeev's Sikh parents, Inderjit and Janak Bhaskar are both from Punjab and moved to the UK after the partition of India.
He grew up in a flat above his dad's launderette in Hounslow, West London.
"My parents ended up in a refugee camp in Delhi after having to leave their much-loved homeland when 15 million people were displaced during the partition of India. Dad, Inderjit, arrived in Britain in 1956 followed by my mum, Janak, in 1960. They worked hard, paid their taxes and never relied on the state for handouts; I think people forget that migrants like them moved here for a reason: to work and to have a life." Sanjeev told The Guardian.
He has one sibling, an older sister called Sangeeta who was born 5 years before him. "As we grew up, we shared a love of the Beatles, Elvis and old movies. She’s the nicest person in the world."
Who is Sanjeev Bhaskar's wife?
Sanjeev Bhaskar married fellow actor Meera Syal in 2005. The pair knew each other for a decade before forming a romantic relationship. They have a son together and Sanjeev is the step-father of Meera's daughter Chameli.
The couple have worked together on numerous projects including Goodness Gracious Me, Yesterday and The Kumars at No. 42, where she played his Grandma.
"I still fancy Meera in her granny suit. At least I know what the future holds. Everyone in a relationship should dress up to be very, very old. It would help them work out how they will feel about each other in the future.", Sanjeev said in a joint interview with The Independent.
So, how did they meet? While The Kumars was in production, the cast took a press trip to Australia, and it was during that long 23-hour flight that the pair realised they had feelings for each other. “We were on such a high – we were being flown first class to promote the show, which had been a hit over there; Meera was releasing her film Anita & Me; and we had just found out that we’d gotten to No 1 on the UK chart with our Comic Relief single with Gareth Gates,” he told The Guardian.
“The thing with 23 hours in someone’s company is that you get the raw version of each other – especially me, since I can’t sleep on a plane. I had no filter and Meera was very nice about it. It was an intense period, but that intensity made us both realise that we wanted to hang out with each other more.”
Recognition and awards
In 2005, Sanjeev Bhaskar was awarded an OBE in the New Year's Honours List for his contributions to the arts and entertainment.
Sanjeev Bhaskar was made chancellor of the University of Sussex in 2009 and then in 2019 he was given an honorary doctorate as he reached 10 years in the role.
Sanjeev Bhaskar: movies and TV shows
Over the years, Sanjeev has established himself as one of Britain’s most beloved actors, seamlessly transitioning between drama and comedy with a rare skill that has earned him admiration from audiences and critics alike.
Goodness Gracious Me
Sanjeev Bhaskar found success with Goodness Gracious Me, a sketch show that began on BBC Radio Four in 1998 and then moved to BBC Two. Satirical in nature it explores the integration of British and Asian cultures.
In addition to Sanjeev, the ensemble cast of British Indian actors included Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia.
Episodes of Goodness Gracious Me are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
The Kumars at No. 42
The Kumars at No. 42 was an International Emmy award-winning sitcom about Sanjeev Kumar (played by Sanjeev Bhaskar), a British Indian man still living at home. To support his ambition of being a television presenter, his parents Madhuri and Ashwin Kumar (Indira Joshi and Vincent Ebrahim) built a studio for him in their back garden.
Sanjeev would interview famous guests while his parents and his Grandmother Ummi (Meera Syal) would fuss around him. Despite the improvised feel, most of the scenes were scripted, except for the interviews. Celebrity guests included Olivia Colman, Hugh Jackman, Rupert Everett, Jenny Agutter and James Corden.
India with Sanjeev Bhaskar
To mark the 60th anniversary of the independence of India and Pakistan, the BBC broadcast a four-part documentary called India with Sanjeev Bhaskar, which saw the actor travel to India to reunite with relatives who shared traumatic stories of Partition.
During this personal journey, he also explored modern, high-tech parts of the country to see the latest developments.
You can watch India with Sanjeev Bhaskar on BBC iPlayer.
Unforgotten
For over a decade, Sanjeev Bhaskar has captivated audiences as the as the sharp and empathetic DI Sonny Khan in ITV's hit cold case drama Unforgotten. The show, which has gained a loyal following since its debut, revolves around the meticulous work of solving decades-old mysteries, with Bhaskar’s character at the forefront.
From series 1 to 4, he teamed up with Nicola Walker, who played DCI Cassie Stuart. Unlike many cop shows, the two detectives got on well and were rooting for each other to succeed professionally and personally. They had a brilliant friendship and a deep, platonic love for one another that captured the viewers' hearts.
However, after Nicola Walker's departure in 2023, a shift occurred in the show’s direction. Cassie’s exit was carefully planned, as both Nicola and showrunner Chris Lang agreed that her character’s journey had reached its natural conclusion. As she told Radio Times, “We talked about Cassie’s story being finite from the very beginning.”
With Cassie gone, the mantle of leadership passed to Sinéad Keenan, who joined as DCI Jessie James in the fifth series.
The on-screen relationship between Sonny and Jessie initially had its challenges, but off-screen, Bhaskar went out of his way to make Sinéad feel at home, offering support during her transition into the well-established cast.
"I was aware that Sinéad was going through what her character Jessie was going through – turning up to work with a team of people who already know each other really well", (interview with Radio Times) so he very kindly set up a Zoom call so that the pair could chat things through before she met the rest of the team.
"I’ve been very lucky to mostly work on happy sets – part of which is down to the presence of strong women, from Meera to Nicola to Sinéad."
Sanjeev Bhaskar and Nicola Walker
During the many years of filming Unforgotten together, Sanjeev and Nicola became close friends, just like their characters are in the show.
*Potential spoilers for Unforgotten series 4 ahead*
Cassie was unexpectedly killed off in a car crash at the end of series 4, so in a touching tribute to their time working together, Nicola left Sanjeev an in-character message as Cassie in Sonny's iconic backpack as a fond farewell.
This made him very emotional and so he took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the moment with fans: “Thank you all for carrying us through series 4 of @UnforgottenTV. The last of this series #sunnysbackpack was unbeknownst to me, packed by #NicolaWalker - with a note she wrote, when I opened it on set. I cracked.”
The note reads: “Dear Sunny, I love you, you know. It’s worth saying sometimes. Cassie x.”
Arabella Horspool is a Commercial Content Writer for Yours at Bauer Media. She's a bookworm who is passionate about TV, film and theatre. She enjoys cooking, scrapbooking, playing board games and spending time with her pet dogs, tortoise and chickens.