My haven, Sanjeev Bhaskar:  The actor and comedian, 53, in the music room at his home in Highgate, north London

  • Sanjeev has lived in his north London home with his wife for three years  
  • He says that his music room acts as a creative space for his family 
  • Here he shows us some of his most treasured possessions  

By Brian Claridge For The Daily Mail

Published: 17:31 EST, 17 February 2017 | Updated: 17:31 EST, 17 February 2017

Sanjeev has lived in his north London home with his wife for three years

Sanjeev has lived in his north London home with his wife for three years

1 CHART-TOPPER 

My wife Meera Syal and I have lived here for three years with our son Shaan, who’s 11, and this music room is a creative space for us all. 

This is me on Top Of The Pops in 2003, when The Kumars At No.42 – our spoof chat show –recorded the official single for Comic Relief. 

To our amazement it went to No.1 and ended up the second biggest-selling single of the year. Performing on the same show as Coldplay and Oasis was surreal and I felt obliged to apologise for beating them to No.1 afterwards!

2 STAR-STRUCK

One of the highlights of my career was winning this Emmy for The Kumars, which was set at the fictional Kumar family’s home in Wembley, and which I created and wrote. I also played the son, Sanjeev, and Meera played Ummi, my grandmother. 

It was difficult not to get excited by some of our guests, like Tom Jones, Michael Parkinson and Donny Osmond. I’d meet them beforehand, but the rest of the cast didn’t know who was coming on until they walked through the living room door.

3 ENCORE!

Eric Idle gave me these slippers in 2009 when I played King Arthur in the musical Spamalot in the West End, which is adapted from the film Monty Python And The Holy Grail. 

One of my favourite routines was the song Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life because the entire audience would join in the chorus. 

Another was the fight with the Black Knight – I’d be chopping his limbs off one by one and he’d still manage to argue with me. I’d love to do more theatre in the future.

4 GAME ON

Carrom is the Indian equivalent of snooker, played with round wooden discs on this board, and I love it. 

The board is made of lacquered plywood and the object of the game is to flick a large wooden disc called a ‘striker’ with your finger and try to get nine smaller discs called ‘carrom men’ plus the Queen into one of the four corner pockets. 

It’s a popular game throughout Asia and the Middle East and it’s fantastic fun. We keep our carrom men in an old Indian sweet tin! 

5 THE KING AND I

I was about five years old when I first heard Elvis sing, but I didn’t know what he looked like until I saw him in a Western called Flaming Star when I was about 11. It was the vulnerability and tone in his voice that I really loved, and still do. 

I have a collection of Elvis memorabilia that includes some framed 35mm celluloid film from the 1956 film Love Me Tender, a video signed by Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana, his original guitarist and drummer, and a sign from Graceland.

6 TIME FOR TEA

A good cup of tea is essential for me when I wake up, and my metal teapot, Thermos mug and organic Darjeeling tea are among my favourite possessions. My mum gave me the teapot last year and the mug was designed by my son at school – it says, ‘The World’s Greatest Papa’ on it. 

I get my tea from the Makaibari Holistic Tea Estate in Darjeeling, which I visited in 2007. It was fascinating to see how the tea is grown and the process it goes through before it ends up in your cup.

Series two of Unforgotten is available on the ITV Hub. 

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