For 17 years, she’s been Still Game’s hidden gem. Full of brilliant Punjabi put-downs, shopkeeper Navid’s long-suffering wife Meena has kept viewers laughing – even though we never saw her face.
Actress Shamshad Akhtar finally got to show off her beaming smile in the hit sitcom’s emotional farewell last night.
(Image: BBC Studios/Alan Peebles)
In her first interview after the big reveal, the 69-year-old paid tribute to the cast and crew, describing her time on Still Game as the best of her life.
And Shamshad, who is also a charity campaigner, told the Record how:
● She survived a violent relationship during which she feared she would be killed.
● She donated all of her Still Game wages to help good causes, such as Down’s syndrome after her grandson Mo was born with the condition.
● She helped the family of murdered Scots waiter Surjit Singh Chhokar in their fight for justice.
(Image: Daily Record)
Shamshad arrived in Glasgow from her birthplace of Lahore at the age of 14 and taught herself English.
She got her role on Still Game after surviving an abusive relationship, and credits joining the cast and crew of the Craiglang classic with helping her to begin a new life.
Now that she’s out in the open, Shamshad is excited about whatever new TV or charity work opportunities await.
And she admitted she’d love to see a spin-off starring her and on-screen husband Sanjeev Kohli.
Shamshad first got involved with Still Game after appearing with Sanjeev in the TV show Overnight Express.
She had been working as a charity volunteer and campaigner and was looking for something new.
She said: “For me, Still Game is about winning Meena’s Game.
“I want to act and I’m always ready for a challenge.
“When I started, they said on day one, ‘We will show your face at the end of the series, but now we will only look at your back’.
“I really enjoyed delivering the lines.
“Our lives behind the camera are lovely, the crew are all marvellous friends and a real family. The crew and the director Michael (Hines) are all lovely.
“I love to feed people and would always bake naans and kebabs and biryani, and I would like to bring food to everyone’s houses after we are finished to still see everyone.”
(Image: BBC Studios/Alan Peebles)
When she started on the show in 2002, Shamshad was able to draw on her experiences of 33 years working in a family corner shop in Anniesland, Glasgow.
She said: “Navid is always bullying Meena in the shop but behind the curtain I’m trying to take my revenge.
“The longest dialogue I had was in the final series. I am always giving answers to smash him, and it’s only a couple of words, but in the ninth one I had more to say.”
Shamshad revealed she survived a mini stroke during the show’s six-year break before recovering to return to the much-loved role.
And she said that some women in the Asian community objected to Meena’s caustic and colourful put-downs.
Her favourite line was when she told Navid she was going to “hit him on the d***”.
She said: “In the community, people call me Meena, they don’t use my name.
“After I did a couple of series, a lot of ladies ask me if I did not feel ashamed to use those words.
“I said, ‘Why?’ There are worse words like F and B and every kid uses these words. I’m saying proper words.
“But they said that no sensible community mother or father would want to sit and hear those words (in Punjabi). So I just said, ‘Tell them not to watch.’”
Shamshad can light up a room with her smile but her life has not always been so happy. She left one partner after a late-night attack.
She recalled: “My life was really at risk, he was a bully man.”
Shamshad added: “This is the way I am all the time.
“I couldn’t be jolly in front of my ex, as he didn’t like it. But when I am with my kids, I’m very happy.”
Talking about teaming up with Sanjeev again, she said: “I’d love that. Sanjeev and I have a very good relationship.
“He’s a wonderful boy, a very jolly boy and very respectable.”
Shamshad added: “Still Game was the best time and in my mind when I’m doing that it’s making other women come out to do things.
“Other times you can have a good and a bad life, but they can learn they are still something and they have a voice.”
“I tell anyone I meet, ‘You’re a bampot, come out and do things.’”
While Shamshad hopes to continue acting, she is also keen to keep up her work with good causes, such as the charity Mo’s Trust, which she is setting up with her 17-year-old grandson.
(Image: Daily Record)
She said: “Mostly since he was born, I’ve been doing charity work. Whatever comes in, it all goes to charity. I never spent any acting money on myself.
“He gives me life. If anyone dies or someone is sad, he will keep cuddling you and he keeps asking you until you smile.”
She has also worked to welcome refugees and visited asylum seekers at Dungavel detention centre.
Her efforts have attracted admiration from campaigning lawyer Aamer Anwar.
He said: “She has one of the biggest hearts you’ve ever seen and she is a fantastic woman.
“She was the heart and soul of the Chhokar campaign and it would have been impossible to do it without her.”
For now, Shamshad is looking forward to Still Game’s final outing at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow in the autumn – where she might appear in person after only doing audio recordings for the previous two stage shows.
She said: “In the last two, my voice was there. Now, hopefully, I’ll be seen.”
Whatever happens, Shamshad is loving life.
She said: “I’m jolly good, I feel like a brand-new woman.
“Meena wins the game and every woman can stand up.”
