Sanjeev Bhaskar claims the BBC rejected his ideas because they already had “an Asian show” on screen.
Sanjeev Bhaskar
The 57-year-old actor thinks diversity quotas in place at TV networks can be problematic because they stop discussions as to whether or not material being pitched is strong or not once a particular box has been ticked by something else.
He said: “There’s plenty of people out there who are good.
“It’s very difficult for me to shake the notion that channels have a quota.
“When I took ideas into the BBC, they basically said to me, ‘Well, we’ve got an Asian show at the moment.’
“Once there’s a quota system up, then you know that the idea of having a qualitative discussion as to whether the show is any good or not doesn’t even happen. I think that’s part of the problem. That’s why stand-up, I think, becomes a more accessible route.”
Last year, Sanjeev joined Emilia Clarke, Robert Lindsay and Dame Emma Thompson for an online reading of Noel Coward’s ‘Private Lives’ and it’s something he’d like to do more of.
He said: “It’s good writing, so yes, I’d enjoy it.”
The ‘Unforgotten’ actor pointed out ‘Bridgerton’ and ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’ were not any less enjoyable because of their diverse casts, though he believes historical accuracy can be important.
He said: “If historical accuracy is the point of the film, then I think you have to be historically accurate. But that also means you don’t cast Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra.”
Sanjeev backs the ways some vintage comedy shows are now broadcast with a warning, but he insisted context should be considered before something potentially-offensive is automatically dismissed.
He added to the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “I think it’s fair enough to put up a warning to contextualise it, like this was made in the 1940s, 1950s, 1970s.
“The whole issue of blacking up didn’t feel right to me even as a child … I’m not saying that simply blacking up in a programme now is grounds to dismiss it, because you go, ‘What’s the context?’ Context is the thing that gets lost in all the noise in every argument.”
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