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The Evolution of South Asian Women in British Film and TV

From "Bend It Like Beckham" to "Polite Society," Here's How South Asian Women Have Evolved On Screen

May 4 2023

"Polite Society," the directorial film debut from "We Are Lady Parts" creator Nida Manzoor, premiered in UK cinemas on 28 April. The film is centred around aspiring stuntwoman Ria (Priya Kansara), who practises her martial arts religiously — much to the dismay of those around her. However, when Ria becomes suspicious of her sister Lena's (Ritu Arya) engagement, she enlists her friends to help pull off the action-packed heist of a generation to rescue her sister from the grips of her nefarious new mother-in-law (Nimra Bucha).

When it premiered at Sundance Film Festival, the film made an impression on critics, with many hailing it as a feel-good action-comedy well worth watching. In particular, Kansara's lead performance, the electric energy of the film, and the unmistakable chemistry between Ria and Lena have dazzled reviewers and warmed hearts.

And whilst the film's action-comedy hijinks make for a fun night out, they also mark a watershed moment in South Asian representation in British film. Much like the impact 2018's "Black Panther" had for Black communities, "Polite Society" offers a foray into genre cinema that is a welcome addition to the catalogue of British South Asian representation onscreen. There have been glimpses of this before — namely, "Bend It Like Beckham" making waves as a sports film in 2002. But when it comes to the films that "Polite Society" is being compared to ("Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," "The Three Flavours Cornetto" trilogy, "Everything Everywhere All At Once"), these cinematic spaces have rarely been occupied by Desi people, let alone women.

In the UK, the South Asian community is fairly blessed when it comes to the calibre of representation, even when the quantity is lacking. Films like "My Beautiful Laundrette" and "East Is East" are considered staples of British cinema and culturally important films, beyond just the communities they represent. BBC comedy championed voices like Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar ("Goodness Gracious Me," "The Kumars at No. 42") in the 1990s, and today, writers such as Adil Ray ("Citizen Khan") and Guz Khan ("Man Like Mobeen") continue to make their mark.

However, when it comes to the depiction of South Asian women in TV and film, exploration of cultural identity often becomes the narrative, rather than simply allowing characters to exist like their white counterparts. This has gradually shifted over the years, with a clear evolution in representation. Read on to learn more about this evolution of South Asian women in British TV and cinema.

Image Source: Focus Features

"Bhaji on the Beach" (1993)

Long before "Bend It Like Beckham" or "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging," iconic director Gurinder Chadha first came on to the scene in 1993 with her film "Bhaji on the Beach." Written by Meera Syal, who will receive the prestigious BAFTA Fellowship award this year, the film follows a group of British South Asian women from Birmingham as they take a day trip to Blackpool.

It was revolutionary at the time of its release as a multifaceted look into the lives of British South Asian women — connecting stories of women of all ages and in various walks of life. It highlights the pressure on young South Asian women to achieve well academically, and the judgement from elders when this doesn't go to plan. It looks at women in abusive relationships and the cultural tension between staying and leaving. It covers both young women who were born here and older women who immigrated. Its intergenerational approach means that for Desi women watching, there is bound to be someone they recognise from their own life. And what's more, it balances its more serious themes with a warm, tender approach, ultimately achieving a joy-filled tone.

Image Source: Everett Collection

"Goodness Gracious Me" (1998)

What started in 1996 as a Radio 4 show, "Goodness Gracious Me" had, by 1998, moved to the screen and became a cult comedy sketch show for BBC Two.

With a core ensemble of four British Asian comics — Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal, and Nina Wadia — the show was a compilation of sketches that used comedy to subvert stereotypes of Indians. Classic sketches include "Going for an English," in which a group of Indian friends drunkenly go out to eat English food on a Friday night, asking for the blandest thing on the menu and mispronouncing the waiter's name.

In their female-focused skits, such as the "Competitive Mothers" sketch, Wadia and Syal play caricatures of Indian women, bragging about their sons' accomplishments to other mothers, but using British dirty humour in their execution. In another recurring sketch, their characters Meena and Beena play on the stereotypes of second-generation immigrants: they are much more Westernised in their thinking, but are still restricted, often by their Asian parents.

The show was the first mainstream South Asian comedy show in the UK, and set the precedent for BBC shows that followed in the years to come. The creative team behind it would go on to launch another iconic British Asian TV show, "The Kumars at No. 42," which saw a British Indian family host a live chat show from their living room alongside an assortment of celebrity guests.

Image Source: Everett Collection

"East is East" (1999)

One of the best-known British South Asian films is "East Is East," which premiered in 1999. Set in 1970s Salford, the film follows the interracial Khan family, whose Pakistani father George (Om Puri) and English mother Ella (Linda Bassett) have decidedly different ideals.

While the film mostly focuses on the sons in the family — there's only one daughter in the line-up of seven children — the film's family dynamics reveal a lot about traditional Pakistani expectations of women. From the arranged marriage plot for two of the brothers to the cheeky rebellion of Meenah (Archie Panjabi), "East Is East" is a good representation of women trying to work out what it means to be both British and South Asian. The contrast with the young white British women in the film exemplifies this even further.

Image Source: Everett Collection

"Anita and Me" (2002)

Also from the mind of Meera Syal, "Anita and Me" is a film adaptation of her first novel, which was adapted from elements of her own childhood growing up in multicultural Britain in the 1970s. Main character Meena (Chandeep Uppal) is a 12-year-old Indian girl from the Midlands who becomes obsessed with cool, blonde, school gang leader Anita (Anna Brewster). The film shows the reality of life in the 1970s for South Asian immigrants, with regular instances of racism and a lack of political correctness. However, it also taps into the desire of young British South Asians to be more like their white Western counterparts. At one point, Meena says, "I wish I was called Sandra and had blonde hair." Her actions in the rest of the story reflect this desire to fit in, even as she struggles against hateful comments, peer pressure, and even racial slurs.

Image Source: Everett Collection

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"Bend it Like Beckham" (2003)

"Bend It Like Beckham" is renowned for many reasons. At the time of its release, it was the highest-grossing film about football, and it also launched the career of Keira Knightley. Perhaps more importantly, the 2003 film is undoubtedly a landmark coming-of-age movie for many British South Asians.

The film follows Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra), an 18-year-old British Indian from Hounslow who loves football more than anything. When Jules (Keira Knightley) sees Jess's skills in the park one day, she invites her to join a local women's football team. Jess joins, sneaking around behind her Indian family who she knows will disapprove. As her loyalty to the team comes up against her loyalty to her family, the film becomes a testament to following your dreams whilst never forgetting where you came from.

It captures the cultural specificities of British South Asian life, with both Jess and her sister Pinky (Archie Panjabi) showing different ways of rebelling against the standards set for young Asian women. However, whilst they do both rebel, there is also a strong sense of family; in particular, its portrayal of a strong father-daughter relationship is a beautiful thing to see in a film about this community. In addition, its cultural humour is specific enough that those who understand it will cry with laughter, but generic enough that all audiences are invited to laugh along.

Ultimately, it's a film that young British South Asians will relate to, regardless of their love (or lack of love) for football.

Image Source: Everett Collection

"Some Girls" (2012)

While the BBC has released a number of South Asian-led comedies in the last decade or so ("Man Like Mobeen," "Citizen Khan"), the broadcaster has also become more representative and multicultural in its wider comedies. One of the first examples of this was in the teen BBC Three comedy "Some Girls," which followed a diverse group of friends in their final year of school. It felt similar to shows like "The Inbetweeners," making space for girls in that teen comedy genre. In particular, having a mix of races included in the core ensemble made the show feel much more authentic.

The one Indian character of the four is Saz Khan, played by Mandeep Dhillon. While the character does adhere to some cultural stereotypes (strict parents, a love for maths, set life plan), Saz is much more than that, and many comedic moments come from her anger issues and sarcastic nature. Each of the girls has their own quirks, but all of them deal with the same day-to-day struggles: school, boys, and parents. Saz is never excluded from that, showing the ways in which British South Asians live a very different life now than the generations before us.

"We Are Lady Parts" (2021)

If positive representation for Brown women has been thin, then positive representation for Brown Muslim women has been nearly non-existent. But the Channel 4 comedy "We Are Lady Parts" set to challenge that lack of representation with loud, punk-rock anthems and a lot of heart.

From Nida Manzoor, who has since gone on to direct "Polite Society," the show follows a group of young Muslim women who are in a punk band. It's loud and brash and silly and exuberant: many things that South Asian women are not often portrayed as. "We Are Lady Parts" doesn't ignore the standard tropes present in British South Asian media. In fact, the very first scene of the show's first episode sees the lead character Amina (Anjana Vasan) meeting a potential spouse with both sets of parents present.

However, while it doesn't ignore cultural stereotypes, it does seek to dismantle them, showing the complex and nuanced variety of life for Muslim women in the UK. Each of these women has a faith, and it is expressed individually and in varying ways. It is a large leap in the right direction for representation, reminding viewers that women from all backgrounds have the potential to be brave and subversive whilst staying true to their roots and core beliefs.

These South Asian characters are fully and freely themselves, in ways that are all incredibly different in their characters and demeanours. On a show like "We Are Lady Parts," there isn't just one way to be a Muslim woman — an accurate reflection of real life.

"Bridgerton" (2022)

One of the joys of Netflix's "Bridgerton" adaptations has been its embrace of colourblind casting, inviting people of colour into a genre in which they have rarely been represented.

While other Indian-themed period dramas exist, "Bridgerton" introduced Kate and Edwina Sharma into Regency England in series 2 by changing the race of the characters from the source material. The casting of Simone Ashley and Charithra Chandran highlighted cultural similarities between the Regency period and Indian culture.

Because the original characters in the "Bridgerton" books are not Indian, the TV series could feel like it's not actually a representation of South Asian women, but the characterisation of Kate and Edwina contradicts this. They bring their lived cultural identity to the characters, without ever making it their core personality trait. In many ways, this is a more accurate portrayal of what it means to be a South Asian woman than depictions that focus too much on differences in race and culture.

Kate and Edwina are invited into this glamorous world and are given opportunities that Indian women are rarely given in the media: they get to dance at balls, they get to wear elaborate gowns, they get to be seen as sexy and desirable.

Image Source: Netflix

"Polite Society" (2023)

From punk rock to kung fu, Nida Manzoor's new film allows South Asian women to migrate into yet another untapped genre for them: the action-comedy.

Critics have commented on the film's impressive stunt choreography, and its commitment to larger-than-life action sequences. Comments like this show that "Polite Society" is unlike anything South Asian women have been cast in before. Priya Kansara's turn as the lead Ria is set to launch her career, whilst also launching a fresh kind of representation for young South Asian women in the UK. In the era of YouTube and TikTok influencers, anyone can make a name for themselves doing just about anything, and Ria's stuntwoman dreams show that this online culture does not exclude women of colour.

The film, as groundbreaking as it is, does continue many of the trends seen in previous British South Asian films, too. It centres around familial relationships, and particularly the intimate bond between sisters; it has a marriage plotline; it portrays stereotypical South Asian parents. However, none of these things undo the work of "Polite Society" as a step forward in representation. They just serve as a reminder of why these elements have always been seen in British South Asian films: they are a truthful representation of these communities, and help audiences to feel seen on big screens.

Image Source: Focus Features

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