''Banglatown Banquet'' is a 2006

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Hettie MacDonald Hettie Macdonald is an English film, theatre and television director. Macdonald is known as the director of the Hugo Award-winning 2007 episode of the ''Doctor Who'' series, "Blink", and won a Grand Prix award, an International Jury Award - Hono ...

, written by

Tanika Gupta Tanika Gupta (born 1 December 1963) is a British playwright. Apart from her work for the theatre, she has also written scripts for television, film and radio plays. Early life Tanika Gupta was born in London to immigrant parents from Kolkata, ...

, and stars

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...

Shobu Kapoor Shobu Kapoor (born 28 May 1961) is a British actress of Indian descent. Life and career She is most notable for playing the role of Gita Kapoor, the long-suffering wife of market trader Sanjay ( Deepak Verma), in the BBC soap opera ''EastEn ...

and Shelly King. The film is about a middle-aged Bangladeshi woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband returns from Bangladesh with a pregnant teenage bride. It was broadcast by BBC Two on 25 March 2006.

Plot

Sofia (

) is a disillusioned Bangladeshi woman in her 50s who has lived in a council tenement block near Brick Lane since coming to England as a young bride. Her elderly Bangladeshi husband Shafiq ( Renu Setna) feeling marginalised by his spouse's attendance of yoga classes, goes back to Bangladesh for a holiday and returns after a year with a pregnant teenage bride. Divorce is severely frowned upon by the local community and Sofia feels she has to stay with her husband, however, she is far from sure if she can live with these new marital arrangements. Sofia decides not to put up with the humiliation of this new lodger and opts instead for a divorce. Aided by her trendy daughter Afshan (

Preeya Kalidas Preeya Kalidas (born 21 June 1980) is a British singer and actress. She played Amira Masood in the soap opera '' EastEnders'', from 2009 to 2012. She released the single "Shimmy" in July 2010, taken from her proposed debut album ''(I'm Over It ...

), Sofia weighs up her options and comes to the decision on a women's community-centre day trip to a stately home with Joolie (

) and Nazreen (Shelley King), where she chances upon the ghost of an oppressed English lady of the manor.

Cast

as Sofia *

as Joolie *

Shelley King Shelley King (born 25 September 1955) is a British actress, known for her roles as Jay Harper on the BBC drama series ''Angels'' and Yasmeen Nazir on the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Early and personal life King was born in Calcutta, ...

as Nazreen *

Riz Ahmed Rizwan Ahmed (; ; born ) is a British actor and rapper. As an actor, he has won an Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards, and as a rapper he has won an Academy Award for the short ...

as Razual *

Sam Dastor Sam Dastor is an Indian-born British actor best known for his appearances in British television series. Life and career Dastor was born in India and raised in a Parsi family of Zoroastrian faith, though he later converted to Christianity. He g ...

as Tariq *

Gerard Horan Gerard James Pertwee Horan (born 11 November 1962) is an British actor. He is known for playing Firefighter Leslie "Charisma" Appleby in '' London's Burning'' from 1986 to 1989 and again in 1994. Partial filmography * ''My Beautiful Laundrette ...

as Rocky *

Ronny Jhutti Ronny Jhutti (born Ajay Jhutti, 1973) is a British actor, most notable for his role as Sohail Karim in '' EastEnders'', Danny Bartock in two episodes of '' Doctor Who'' and Naz Omar in ''Vexed''. Ronny was raised in London, where he was born, as ...

as Zubin *

as Afshan *

Emil Marwa Emil Marwa (born 1974) is a British actor, known for his acting in films like '' Izzat'', '' East Is East'', and '' The Guru''. Early life His father is an Indian Kenyan Sikh and his mother is of Norwegian descent. Emil was brought up in London, ...

as Ali * Renu Setna as Shafiq *

Rakhee Thakrar Rakhee Thakrar (born 29 February 1984) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Shabnam Masood in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2014–2016) and Emily Sands in the Netflix comedy-drama ''Sex Education'' (2019–2021). She als ...

as Rozena

Production and themes

''Banglatown Banquet'' was written by

, and stars

and Shelly King. The scenes in the stately home were shot in

Ragley Hall Ragley Hall in the parish of Arrow in Warwickshire is a stately home, located south of Alcester and eight miles (13 km) west of Stratford-upon-Avon. It is the ancestral seat of the Seymour-Conway family, Marquesses of Hertford. History ...

in Alcester, Warwickshire. The drama is about middle-aged Muslim Bangladeshi women struggling for their freedom who leave the familiarity of their Bangladeshi community and set out on a voyage of discovery. Banglatown Banquet

Broadcast and reception

''Banglatown Banquet'' was broadcast by BBC Two as part of ''A Night on Brick Lane'' and was preceded by the documentary '' Brick Lane'' on 25 March 2006 (the day before Bangladesh Independence Day).

Andrew Billen Andrew William Scott Billen (born 30 December 1957) is a British journalist, children's author, and staff feature writer on ''The Times'' newspaper. Early life Andrew Billen was born in London on 30 December 1957 and brought up in Brentwood, E ...

of the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'' said of the drama "like the documentary, it was a little too heart-warming for its own good." The jury of

Prix Europa {{notability, Events, date=March 2021 PRIX EUROPA – The European Broadcasting Festival – is the Europe's largest annual tri-medial festival and competition. The event takes place in the third week of October in Berlin, Germany. PRIX E ...

called the film "A warm, funny, positive and intelligent film... A drama full of respect for the dignity and independence of women." The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Plot

Cast

Production and themes

Broadcast and reception

Awards

See also

References

External links