Gita Kapoor
Encyclopedia
Gita Kapoor is a fictional character
from the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, played by Shobu Kapoor
.
Gita had a fierce temper, which was needed to keep her troublesome husband in check. Any success they achieved was down to her. She was the brains behind the Kapoor's clothes business.
and she was first seen in Albert Square
in February 1993.
Gita's husband had been left a clothing business by his parents when they moved to India
. However Sanjay had proven himself to be a poor businessman and after some bad monetary investments, his business had gone bankrupt. Gita, who was heavily pregnant, had been forced to live with her sister, Meena, while Sanjay desperately tried to find them a place to live. Sanjay came to the Square to ask his friend, Richard Cole
, to give him a permanent pitch on the market that he ran.
Sanjay was a compulsive gambler and could never resist an opportunity to make a quick buck. Unfortunately all the chances he took rarely paid off, so Gita was often forced to sort out the mess that he'd gotten them into. His arrival in the Square was no exception, and after gambling away the deposit for a flat they intended to buy, Gita was forced to move in with Richard Cole. This was far from ideal, particularly as Gita didn't like Richard very much. After more gambling, Sanjay finally managed to secure the funds for a flat at 43B Albert Square. That same day, Gita went into labour
and typically, Sanjay was nowhere to be seen in her hour of need. She ended up giving birth to a girl, Sharmilla, with Richard holding her hand through the ordeal.
Whilst Sanjay ran the clothing stall, Gita initially kept herself busy at home, hiring herself out as a massage therapist. Whilst doing this she became good friends with a client, Cindy Beale
. Cindy had few friends on the Square, so she relished having someone to disclose all her sordid little secrets to. Gita was often used as a foil for Cindy to escape her husband so she could embark on her extramarital affairs. Later on Gita became good friends with Ruth Fowler
, as both their husbands were market traders.
Gita found parenthood quite stressful at first. Sanjay was no help whatsoever and so her snooty sister, Meena, decided to come and stay with the Kapoors for a while, under the pretence she was there to help. Actually, she had fallen out with her husband, Jerry, and she needed somewhere to stay. Meena was a snob
, she had married into money and deemed herself better in every way to her sister. Meena and Sanjay had never got along and she always ended up causing problems whenever she was around.
Throughout the year Meena would show up regularly for visits, often spying on Sanjay and informing Gita of his troublesome exploits, which usually involved gambling. Sanjay's money making schemes often meant that he would leave Gita at home tending the baby alone. She began to suffer from post-natal depression and started to become extremely suspicious of Sanjay. To make matters worse, she had discovered a restaurant
receipt for a champagne meal for two in Sanjay's pocket. When she confronted Sanjay, he laughed off her paranoia and claimed the meal was with a business associate. Gita was not convinced, and after seeing him and Michelle Fowler
liaising together, she began to think that she was the other woman (actually Sanjay was only giving her driving lessons). Furious, Gita went to confront Michelle in The Queen Vic
and told her to keep away from her husband. Bizarrely, it was Meena who rushed to Sanjay's defence and eventually convinced Gita that Sanjay was not capable of committing adultery. Feeling embarrassed by her outburst, Gita decided she needed a break from Walford, so at the end of the year she left Sharmilla in Sanjay's care and went to stay with a relative.
Sanjay was hopeless at caring for Sharmilla, and so he contacted Meena to come and help him out. In January 1994, Gita arrived home early from her vacation. As she crept into her flat she was shocked by the sight that greeted her - Sanjay and Meena laying naked and asleep, in her bed. Gita suddenly realised that Meena was the 'other woman' and she snatched Sharmilla and took refuge at Michelle's. When Sanjay awoke the next morning and saw his baby gone, he immediately guessed that Gita had been there. He and Meena agreed to pretend that their affair was a one off and they were so drunk that nothing actually happened anyway. Gita was no fool however, and wouldn't believe a word of it. She disowned her sister, and threw Sanjay out. She then set about trying to get revenge on them both. She refused Sanjay access to both the market stall and Sharmilla and she also informed Meena's husband about the affair. A furious Jerry then came to confront Sanjay, and after much goading Sanjay admitted that the affair had been going on for months, at least 3 or 4 nights a week. Gita was later furious to discover that in spite of everything, Jerry was willing to forgive Meena and even worse, they were going on a second honeymoon
whilst her marriage was in ruins. Feeling guilty, Jerry wrote Gita a compensatory cheque, much to Meena's annoyance. After seeking legal advice, Gita realised that Sanjay would have rights to see their child so she then decided to leave Walford, without telling Sanjay where she was going.
Months later, when Gita had run out of money, she returned to Albert Square
and forced Sanjay out of their flat again. Gita was adamant that she was not getting back together with Sanjay, but she realised she needed his help if she was going to bring up her daughter the way she wanted. Their business was in a mess since her departure, so she set about sorting things out and she finally allowed Sanjay access to Sharmilla. They shared parental duties and took turns running the stall. This led Sanjay to think that it would only be a matter of time before he and Gita would be back together. However, with Meena still visiting Gita in an effort to be reconciled with her, it was not proving to be easy.
Gita would not forgive Sanjay for his infidelity and she bitterly reminded him of it every time she saw him. However, later that year she became the target of a racist attack and so she begrudgingly began to lean on Sanjay for assistance. Her door was graffitied, and she even had dog faeces posted through her letter box. Later her window was smashed and she was even assaulted on the street. She became petrified and refused to go outside for fear of being attacked. To make matters worse, she was receiving prank calls regularly. Sanjay was furious that his wife was being subjected to such vile racism and he became hell bent on uncovering the people who were doing it. He eventually managed to catch the perpetrators in the act - a gang of vicious yobs. He managed to grab hold of one and started to punch him to the ground, just when a police car pulled up. Sanjay was then arrested, while the yob escaped. After a night in a cell, he was eventually released with a caution. The incident appeared to stir some worry in Gita and on Christmas day they eventually reconciled and spent the night together. Gita was quick to remind Sanjay that their night of passion was just about sex
, but During 1995 they continued to meet up regularly and eventually Gita was persuaded to give their marriage another shot.
In September of that year, Sanjay was forced to return to India to tend to his dying grandfather. This left Gita to run the stall as she saw fit. She was soon approached by a smooth talking businessman, named Guppy Sharma, who was hoping to put a good deal her way. It soon became clear that Guppy was interested in more than just business and Gita was extremely flattered by the attention he was giving her. After many dinner dates (allegedly to discuss business), Gita was persuaded to give his clothing stock a try on her stall. It was a huge success and the items sold well. Guppy was a man of mystery and he would often disappear for weeks on end without a word. Gita was left flummoxed by his behaviour. Soon after Gita was visited by Guppy's ex-employer. Guppy had stolen all his stock - the stock that Gita had just sold! Gita then became extremely suspicious of Guppy, but he managed to persuade her that he was genuine, and not out to fleece her too. Just as it looked as if the two were about to kiss, Meena walked in! It turned out that Meena had split with Jerry and Guppy was her new fiancée. She had instructed him to put business to Gita, in a last ditch attempt at a reconciliation with her. She was none too pleased to discover that he had actually been trying to seduce her instead. Gita then wanted nothing more to do with Guppy, but upon Sanjay's return he was persuaded to invest in a dodgy deal orchestrated by him. This proved to be a mistake as Guppy was just a conman, and after fleecing him for £2000 he did a runner, leaving Sajay paying extortionate interest to a loan shark
. Gita was once again forced to sort out her husband's mess.
In 1996 Sanjay and Gita decided to try for another baby. However, no matter how hard they tried, Gita couldn't conceive. Sanjay assumed that the problem lay with Gita, but a subsequent trip to Dr. Legg
confirmed that she was in complete working order. This meant that the problem must be with Sanjay and subsequent tests revealed that he had a low sperm
count. Sanjay was devastated by this news, as he felt it compromised his masculinity. Gita assured him that it did not matter and that she would always love him, and so they decided to try IVF. As the waiting list on the national health was 3 years long, they decided to go private. This proved extremely expensive however - £3,000 a go! After their first attempt failed they were unable to pay for more treatment, and so Gita started to became extremely depressed. Things weren't helped when Sanjay's mother, Neelam, came over from India to live with them later that year. Gita and Neelam regularly clashed, and Neelam often made it clear that Gita was not good enough for her son. After much sniping Gita could finally take no more and in October 1997, she announced she was taking Sharmilla away to visit her sister for a while.
In January 1998 Gita and Sharmilla were finally due to arrive home. Sanjay had planned to collect them from the station, but after getting involved in yet another dodgy business deal, he was late for their rendezvous. When he arrived Gita was nowhere to be seen. Days went by and still there was no sign of Gita or Sharmilla, so Sanjay was forced to contact the police
. Months passed but still no word from Gita and coincidental evidence had led the police to think that Sanjay may have been responsible for her disappearance. He was even arrested and accused of her murder
, although he was later released without charge. Everyone came to assume that Gita and Sharmilla were dead.
However, in July that year, Gita contacted Ruth Fowler. She was living in Birmingham
and was in desperate need of some money, although she wouldn't divulge the reason why. She made Ruth promise not to tell Sanjay that she'd been in contact. Inevitably, Sanjay found out, and he, Ruth and Mark Fowler
went to Birmingham to track her down. After much digging they discovered that a woman matching Gita's description had been taken away in an ambulance
the night before. They went straight to the hospital
and were shocked to discover Gita there, carrying a new born baby boy in her arms. She divulged that she had fallen pregnant after a one-night-stand and instead of returning to face Sanjay, she had run away. The father had since abandoned her and now she was all alone. Sanjay was furious, but after much soul-searching he decided that he could be a loving father to her new child, Arjun, and he eventually decided to give their relationship another go.
Sanjay and Gita were happy for a short while, until the local reporter, Polly Becker
, discovered their recent scandal. After secretly taping confessions from both Sanjay and Ruth, she wrote up their shocking story and it was published in the Walford Gazette. Suddenly the whole of Walford knew what had transpired in Gita's absence. From then on both Sanjay and Gita were hounded by reporters and Sharmilla began to get bullied at school. The Kapoors then decided that the only option was to leave Walford to start again somewhere else. Their last appearance was in September 1998.
(Deepak Verma
) were introduced early in 1993 by producer Leonard Lewis
. They were the first characters of Asian descent to be introduced since the Karim family
, who departed from the serial in 1990. The Kapoors were the programme's first attempt to portray non-Muslim Asian characters; the Kapoors were practicing Hindu
s, descending from India.
Shobu Kapoor auditioned for the role of Gita along with actress Nina Wadia
. Both had been working together on a play prior to auditioning, and neither knew that the other would be attending the audition until they bumped into each other at the casting call. It was Kapoor who was offered the part; Wadia would later go on to play another character years later, Zainab Masood
.
In 1998, EastEnders acquired a new executive producer, Matthew Robinson. Robinson was dubbed "the axeman" in the British press, after a large proportion of the EastEnders cast either quit, or were culled, shortly after Robinson's introduction. It was reported that Robinson hoped the changes would attract more viewers and "spice up [the soap's fictional setting of] Walford
".
Among the departing characters were longrunning Asian family the Kapoors, including Sanjay
, Gita and Neelam Kapoor. As they were the only Asian characters in the show, EastEnders received criticism for axing them from angry black and Asian MPs, including Oona King
, MP for East End
constituency Bethnal Green
and Dr Ashok Kumar.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, played by Shobu Kapoor
Shobu Kapoor
Shobu Kapoor is a British actress.She is most notable for playing the role of Gita Kapoor, the long suffering wife of the market-trader Sanjay , in the popular BBC soap opera, EastEnders ....
.
Gita had a fierce temper, which was needed to keep her troublesome husband in check. Any success they achieved was down to her. She was the brains behind the Kapoor's clothes business.
Storylines
Gita was the wife of SanjaySanjay Kapoor (EastEnders)
Sanjay Kapoor is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Deepak Verma.Sanjay the market trader had an eye for the ladies and a weakness for gambling...
and she was first seen in Albert Square
Albert Square
Albert Square is the fictional location of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. The square's design was based on the real life Fassett Square in Hackney, and was given the name Albert Square after the real...
in February 1993.
Gita's husband had been left a clothing business by his parents when they moved to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. However Sanjay had proven himself to be a poor businessman and after some bad monetary investments, his business had gone bankrupt. Gita, who was heavily pregnant, had been forced to live with her sister, Meena, while Sanjay desperately tried to find them a place to live. Sanjay came to the Square to ask his friend, Richard Cole
Richard Cole (EastEnders)
Richard Cole is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Ian Reddington between 1992 and 1994.-Storylines:...
, to give him a permanent pitch on the market that he ran.
Sanjay was a compulsive gambler and could never resist an opportunity to make a quick buck. Unfortunately all the chances he took rarely paid off, so Gita was often forced to sort out the mess that he'd gotten them into. His arrival in the Square was no exception, and after gambling away the deposit for a flat they intended to buy, Gita was forced to move in with Richard Cole. This was far from ideal, particularly as Gita didn't like Richard very much. After more gambling, Sanjay finally managed to secure the funds for a flat at 43B Albert Square. That same day, Gita went into labour
Childbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
and typically, Sanjay was nowhere to be seen in her hour of need. She ended up giving birth to a girl, Sharmilla, with Richard holding her hand through the ordeal.
Whilst Sanjay ran the clothing stall, Gita initially kept herself busy at home, hiring herself out as a massage therapist. Whilst doing this she became good friends with a client, Cindy Beale
Cindy Beale
Cindy Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Collins.Cindy always had an eye for the lotharios of Walford and despite trying to settle down repeatedly with the more reliable Ian Beale, she was unable to remain faithful to him. She had a selfish...
. Cindy had few friends on the Square, so she relished having someone to disclose all her sordid little secrets to. Gita was often used as a foil for Cindy to escape her husband so she could embark on her extramarital affairs. Later on Gita became good friends with Ruth Fowler
Ruth Fowler
Ruth Fowler is a fictional character from the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Caroline Paterson from 1994 to 1999. Ruth was Mark Fowler's second wife and she was far more comfortable with his HIV status than many of his other girlfriends. However their marriage eventually...
, as both their husbands were market traders.
Gita found parenthood quite stressful at first. Sanjay was no help whatsoever and so her snooty sister, Meena, decided to come and stay with the Kapoors for a while, under the pretence she was there to help. Actually, she had fallen out with her husband, Jerry, and she needed somewhere to stay. Meena was a snob
Snob
A snob is someone who believes that some people are inherently inferior to him or her for any one of a variety of reasons, including real or supposed intellect, wealth, education, ancestry, taste, beauty, nationality, et cetera. Often, the form of snobbery reflects the snob's personal attributes...
, she had married into money and deemed herself better in every way to her sister. Meena and Sanjay had never got along and she always ended up causing problems whenever she was around.
Throughout the year Meena would show up regularly for visits, often spying on Sanjay and informing Gita of his troublesome exploits, which usually involved gambling. Sanjay's money making schemes often meant that he would leave Gita at home tending the baby alone. She began to suffer from post-natal depression and started to become extremely suspicious of Sanjay. To make matters worse, she had discovered a restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
receipt for a champagne meal for two in Sanjay's pocket. When she confronted Sanjay, he laughed off her paranoia and claimed the meal was with a business associate. Gita was not convinced, and after seeing him and Michelle Fowler
Michelle Fowler
Michelle Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actress Susan Tully.Although she was one of the brighter people in Walford, that didn't stop Michelle making some huge mistakes during her time in Albert Square...
liaising together, she began to think that she was the other woman (actually Sanjay was only giving her driving lessons). Furious, Gita went to confront Michelle in The Queen Vic
The Queen Victoria
The Queen Victoria is a fictional Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20.-Appearance and development:...
and told her to keep away from her husband. Bizarrely, it was Meena who rushed to Sanjay's defence and eventually convinced Gita that Sanjay was not capable of committing adultery. Feeling embarrassed by her outburst, Gita decided she needed a break from Walford, so at the end of the year she left Sharmilla in Sanjay's care and went to stay with a relative.
Sanjay was hopeless at caring for Sharmilla, and so he contacted Meena to come and help him out. In January 1994, Gita arrived home early from her vacation. As she crept into her flat she was shocked by the sight that greeted her - Sanjay and Meena laying naked and asleep, in her bed. Gita suddenly realised that Meena was the 'other woman' and she snatched Sharmilla and took refuge at Michelle's. When Sanjay awoke the next morning and saw his baby gone, he immediately guessed that Gita had been there. He and Meena agreed to pretend that their affair was a one off and they were so drunk that nothing actually happened anyway. Gita was no fool however, and wouldn't believe a word of it. She disowned her sister, and threw Sanjay out. She then set about trying to get revenge on them both. She refused Sanjay access to both the market stall and Sharmilla and she also informed Meena's husband about the affair. A furious Jerry then came to confront Sanjay, and after much goading Sanjay admitted that the affair had been going on for months, at least 3 or 4 nights a week. Gita was later furious to discover that in spite of everything, Jerry was willing to forgive Meena and even worse, they were going on a second honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
whilst her marriage was in ruins. Feeling guilty, Jerry wrote Gita a compensatory cheque, much to Meena's annoyance. After seeking legal advice, Gita realised that Sanjay would have rights to see their child so she then decided to leave Walford, without telling Sanjay where she was going.
Months later, when Gita had run out of money, she returned to Albert Square
Albert Square
Albert Square is the fictional location of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. The square's design was based on the real life Fassett Square in Hackney, and was given the name Albert Square after the real...
and forced Sanjay out of their flat again. Gita was adamant that she was not getting back together with Sanjay, but she realised she needed his help if she was going to bring up her daughter the way she wanted. Their business was in a mess since her departure, so she set about sorting things out and she finally allowed Sanjay access to Sharmilla. They shared parental duties and took turns running the stall. This led Sanjay to think that it would only be a matter of time before he and Gita would be back together. However, with Meena still visiting Gita in an effort to be reconciled with her, it was not proving to be easy.
Gita would not forgive Sanjay for his infidelity and she bitterly reminded him of it every time she saw him. However, later that year she became the target of a racist attack and so she begrudgingly began to lean on Sanjay for assistance. Her door was graffitied, and she even had dog faeces posted through her letter box. Later her window was smashed and she was even assaulted on the street. She became petrified and refused to go outside for fear of being attacked. To make matters worse, she was receiving prank calls regularly. Sanjay was furious that his wife was being subjected to such vile racism and he became hell bent on uncovering the people who were doing it. He eventually managed to catch the perpetrators in the act - a gang of vicious yobs. He managed to grab hold of one and started to punch him to the ground, just when a police car pulled up. Sanjay was then arrested, while the yob escaped. After a night in a cell, he was eventually released with a caution. The incident appeared to stir some worry in Gita and on Christmas day they eventually reconciled and spent the night together. Gita was quick to remind Sanjay that their night of passion was just about sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
, but During 1995 they continued to meet up regularly and eventually Gita was persuaded to give their marriage another shot.
In September of that year, Sanjay was forced to return to India to tend to his dying grandfather. This left Gita to run the stall as she saw fit. She was soon approached by a smooth talking businessman, named Guppy Sharma, who was hoping to put a good deal her way. It soon became clear that Guppy was interested in more than just business and Gita was extremely flattered by the attention he was giving her. After many dinner dates (allegedly to discuss business), Gita was persuaded to give his clothing stock a try on her stall. It was a huge success and the items sold well. Guppy was a man of mystery and he would often disappear for weeks on end without a word. Gita was left flummoxed by his behaviour. Soon after Gita was visited by Guppy's ex-employer. Guppy had stolen all his stock - the stock that Gita had just sold! Gita then became extremely suspicious of Guppy, but he managed to persuade her that he was genuine, and not out to fleece her too. Just as it looked as if the two were about to kiss, Meena walked in! It turned out that Meena had split with Jerry and Guppy was her new fiancée. She had instructed him to put business to Gita, in a last ditch attempt at a reconciliation with her. She was none too pleased to discover that he had actually been trying to seduce her instead. Gita then wanted nothing more to do with Guppy, but upon Sanjay's return he was persuaded to invest in a dodgy deal orchestrated by him. This proved to be a mistake as Guppy was just a conman, and after fleecing him for £2000 he did a runner, leaving Sajay paying extortionate interest to a loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
. Gita was once again forced to sort out her husband's mess.
In 1996 Sanjay and Gita decided to try for another baby. However, no matter how hard they tried, Gita couldn't conceive. Sanjay assumed that the problem lay with Gita, but a subsequent trip to Dr. Legg
Dr. Harold Legg
Doctor Harold Legg is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by Leonard Fenton. Dr. Legg was Walford's original GP. He was widely trusted within the community, and was always on hand to dish out advice. Dr Legg appeared as a regular character between 1985 and 1989, but...
confirmed that she was in complete working order. This meant that the problem must be with Sanjay and subsequent tests revealed that he had a low sperm
Spermatozoon
A spermatozoon is a motile sperm cell, or moving form of the haploid cell that is the male gamete. A spermatozoon joins an ovum to form a zygote...
count. Sanjay was devastated by this news, as he felt it compromised his masculinity. Gita assured him that it did not matter and that she would always love him, and so they decided to try IVF. As the waiting list on the national health was 3 years long, they decided to go private. This proved extremely expensive however - £3,000 a go! After their first attempt failed they were unable to pay for more treatment, and so Gita started to became extremely depressed. Things weren't helped when Sanjay's mother, Neelam, came over from India to live with them later that year. Gita and Neelam regularly clashed, and Neelam often made it clear that Gita was not good enough for her son. After much sniping Gita could finally take no more and in October 1997, she announced she was taking Sharmilla away to visit her sister for a while.
In January 1998 Gita and Sharmilla were finally due to arrive home. Sanjay had planned to collect them from the station, but after getting involved in yet another dodgy business deal, he was late for their rendezvous. When he arrived Gita was nowhere to be seen. Days went by and still there was no sign of Gita or Sharmilla, so Sanjay was forced to contact the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
. Months passed but still no word from Gita and coincidental evidence had led the police to think that Sanjay may have been responsible for her disappearance. He was even arrested and accused of her murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, although he was later released without charge. Everyone came to assume that Gita and Sharmilla were dead.
However, in July that year, Gita contacted Ruth Fowler. She was living in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and was in desperate need of some money, although she wouldn't divulge the reason why. She made Ruth promise not to tell Sanjay that she'd been in contact. Inevitably, Sanjay found out, and he, Ruth and Mark Fowler
Mark Fowler
Mark Albert Fowler is a fictional character from the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders. Mark was an original regular character in the series starting February 1985 but became a semi-regular after his original portrayer David Scarboro was written out of the role in April 1985. Scarboro made...
went to Birmingham to track her down. After much digging they discovered that a woman matching Gita's description had been taken away in an ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
the night before. They went straight to the hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
and were shocked to discover Gita there, carrying a new born baby boy in her arms. She divulged that she had fallen pregnant after a one-night-stand and instead of returning to face Sanjay, she had run away. The father had since abandoned her and now she was all alone. Sanjay was furious, but after much soul-searching he decided that he could be a loving father to her new child, Arjun, and he eventually decided to give their relationship another go.
Sanjay and Gita were happy for a short while, until the local reporter, Polly Becker
Polly Becker
Polly Becker is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Victoria Gould from April 1997 to September 1998.-Storylines:...
, discovered their recent scandal. After secretly taping confessions from both Sanjay and Ruth, she wrote up their shocking story and it was published in the Walford Gazette. Suddenly the whole of Walford knew what had transpired in Gita's absence. From then on both Sanjay and Gita were hounded by reporters and Sharmilla began to get bullied at school. The Kapoors then decided that the only option was to leave Walford to start again somewhere else. Their last appearance was in September 1998.
Creation and development
Gita played by Shobu Kapoor and her husband SanjaySanjay Kapoor (EastEnders)
Sanjay Kapoor is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Deepak Verma.Sanjay the market trader had an eye for the ladies and a weakness for gambling...
(Deepak Verma
Deepak Verma
Deepak Verma, is a British Asian actor, writer and television/film producer.- Career :Verma trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama for three years . He made his television debut in the Scottish detective series, Taggart in 1992...
) were introduced early in 1993 by producer Leonard Lewis
Leonard Lewis
Leonard Jack Lewis was a British producer and director. He was most active in television. He was the Executive/Series Producer for BBC's EastEnders during the early 1990s, though he had success with many other television programmes for both the BBC and ITV...
. They were the first characters of Asian descent to be introduced since the Karim family
Karim family
The Karims are a fictional family that appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders between 1987 and 1990.-Creation and development:The Muslim Karim family were introduced as the owners of the soap's grocery store, the First til Last, following the departure of the character Naima Jeffery in 1987,...
, who departed from the serial in 1990. The Kapoors were the programme's first attempt to portray non-Muslim Asian characters; the Kapoors were practicing Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s, descending from India.
Shobu Kapoor auditioned for the role of Gita along with actress Nina Wadia
Nina Wadia
-Television and film:Wadia first came to prominence in BBC sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, playing characters such as Mrs "I can make it at home for nothing!" and one half of The Competitive Mothers...
. Both had been working together on a play prior to auditioning, and neither knew that the other would be attending the audition until they bumped into each other at the casting call. It was Kapoor who was offered the part; Wadia would later go on to play another character years later, Zainab Masood
Zainab Masood
Zainab Masood is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by comedienne Nina Wadia. She made her first appearance on 16 July 2007.-Backstory:...
.
In 1998, EastEnders acquired a new executive producer, Matthew Robinson. Robinson was dubbed "the axeman" in the British press, after a large proportion of the EastEnders cast either quit, or were culled, shortly after Robinson's introduction. It was reported that Robinson hoped the changes would attract more viewers and "spice up [the soap's fictional setting of] Walford
Walford
Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The name Walford is both a street in Dalston where one of the series' creators, Tony Holland, lived and a blend of Walthamstow, where Holland was born, and Stratford. The suffix 'ford' is also found throughout East...
".
Among the departing characters were longrunning Asian family the Kapoors, including Sanjay
Sanjay Kapoor (EastEnders)
Sanjay Kapoor is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Deepak Verma.Sanjay the market trader had an eye for the ladies and a weakness for gambling...
, Gita and Neelam Kapoor. As they were the only Asian characters in the show, EastEnders received criticism for axing them from angry black and Asian MPs, including Oona King
Oona King
Oona Tamsyn King, Baroness King of Bow is a Baroness and Member of the House of Lords, and former Chief Diversity Officer of Channel 4. She previously had served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow from 1997 until 2005, when she was defeated by Respect candidate George...
, MP for East End
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
constituency Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
and Dr Ashok Kumar.