Naima Jeffery
Encyclopedia
Naima Jeffery is a fictional character
from the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, played by Shreela Ghosh
.
Asian
Naima tried to embrace Western culture
, but this wasn't easy since her family constantly tried to force her to adhere to their ancient customs. Sick of being forced to live in an arranged marriage with a husband she loathed, Naima made a stand and shamed her family by filing for a divorce.
. Her parents were originally from Bangladesh
, but she was born in England
. Naima and her husband were on the receiving end of racial abuse
and vandalism
from the neo-nazi group that included Nick Cotton
, which made life in Walford
particularly unpleasant for them both.
Naima was sent to Walford for an arranged marriage
with Saeed. The two didn't get on and Naima became unwilling to adhere to Moslem customs, regularly disobeying her husband's wishes and refusing to share his bed. Saeed started visiting prostitutes and would regularly go to the strip-club where Mary Smith worked. He later made obscene phone calls to Naima's good friend Debbie Wilkins
. When Naima was tipped off by an anonymous letter from Dot Cotton
, she was disgusted with Saeed and decided to go against her family's wishes and divorce
him.
After Saeed left in December 1985, Naima made a determined effort to embrace Western culture and feminism
. She stopped wearing sari
s, learned to drive, cut her hair short and moved into a flat with Debbie. With her new look, Naima started attracting a lot of male attention on the Square and even dated Walford lothario
, Simon Wicks
, and Dr Jaggat Singh, but neither relationship developed into anything serious.
Naima's family persisted in sending her more cousins to marry and in 1986, Rezaul Gabir arrived in England. He lived and worked with Naima, reporting her every move to her parents. Naima protested, but as her parents were funding her business, she had to put up with Rezaul. He was arrogant and pretentious, making him and Naima clash immediately. Naima realised her family were attempting to set Razaul up as her new husband and she refused to oblige (pleasing Razaul as he wasn't interested in Naima). Angered by their daughter's defiance, Naima's parents cut off all funds, leaving Naima struggling to pay her rent and forced her to move into the Fowlers
' home for a while.
In 1987, Farrukh, yet another cousin, was sent over to woo Naima. Farrukh was an important politician
in Bangladesh
and despite Naima's initial protests, she was drawn to him. Farrukh was different to her other suitors, supporting her independence, so she agreed to marry him. They married in Birmingham
and left Walford for Bangladesh in November 1987.
and Julia Smith
. Naima and her husband were the first Asian
characters to appear in the soap. Black and Asian characters were two ethnic minorities that had previously been under-represented in British soap before EastEnders aired. Holland and Smith knew that for the soap to succeed there needed to be a varied group of characters, so that several different sections of the audience had someone to identify with. Additionally, if the programme was to be realistic, it had to reflect the cross-section of society that actually existed in the real location. For these reasons, different sexes, ages, classes, religions and races were all included in the original character line-up. Both Holland and Smith had been at the forefront of the move towards 'integrated casting' in television and had encountered an array of ethnic diversities in the process. Even though the ethnic minority groups were deemed the hardest to research, Holland and Smith called upon their contacts to relay information about their origins and lifestyles and were then able to portray Walford's most recent immigrants more realistically. Naima was originally intended to be named Najma; named after one of Tony Holland's Bengali
friends, the wife of Saeed (who was also the character name of Naima's on-screen husband). Holland had attended their arranged marriage, and he thought the notion of an arranged marriage, particularly an unhappy one, would be an interesting and informative topic to tackle in the soap. Because of the similarities with his real life friends, the name Najma was altered to Naima, in order to protect her identity.
Naima's original character outline as written by Smith and Holland appeared in an abridged form in their book, EastEnders: The Inside Story
(In this passage, Naima will be referred to as Najma).
Holland and Smith had a lot of trouble casting the role of Naima, as barely any Muslim women responded to their advertisement, and those who did were all unsuitable. Shreela Ghosh
, a non-Muslim Indian actress of Bengali ethnicity, was a late arrival. She was a comparatively inexperienced actor, but she was the right age, looked right and she also liked what the programme was trying to do with a young Asian couple. She was subsequently cast in the role.
Naima ran the corner shop, and her early storylines depicted the problems of her arranged marriage and portrayed a character caught between two cultures. Despite being labelled as a stereotypical portrayal of Asian people today, at the time in the 80s such issues had not been widely covered, particularly on mainstream television.
The character lasted in the show for over two years, depicting an independent woman battling against her families wishes and striving to succeed even after her first marriage ended in divorce. The character eventually remarried and returned to her native Bangladesh in November 1987.
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 Shreela Ghosh
Shreela Ghosh
Shreela Ghosh , a former dancer, actress and reporter, became publicly known in the United Kingdom when she was cast as Naima Jeffery in 1985, one of the original characters in BBC's soap opera, EastEnders. She has since given up performing to work as an arts executive...
.
Asian
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
Naima tried to embrace Western culture
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
, but this wasn't easy since her family constantly tried to force her to adhere to their ancient customs. Sick of being forced to live in an arranged marriage with a husband she loathed, Naima made a stand and shamed her family by filing for a divorce.
Storylines
Original EastEnder Naima ran a corner shop on Bridge Street with her husband Saeed JefferySaeed Jeffery
Saeed Jeffery is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Andrew Johnson.Saeed was the original owner of the First til Last grocery store. He was never truly accepted in Walford, and his arranged marriage ended in divorce after it was discovered that he'd been making...
. Her parents were originally from Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, but she was born in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Naima and her husband were on the receiving end of racial abuse
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and vandalism
Vandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
from the neo-nazi group that included Nick Cotton
Nick Cotton
Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders played by John Altman on a recurring basis from the soap's debut episode in February 1985, through to his last appearance to date in 2009. Nick is the son of characters Charlie and Dot Cotton, and the father of Ashley and...
, which made life in 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...
particularly unpleasant for them both.
Naima was sent to Walford for an arranged marriage
Arranged marriage
An arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
with Saeed. The two didn't get on and Naima became unwilling to adhere to Moslem customs, regularly disobeying her husband's wishes and refusing to share his bed. Saeed started visiting prostitutes and would regularly go to the strip-club where Mary Smith worked. He later made obscene phone calls to Naima's good friend Debbie Wilkins
Debbie Wilkins
Deborah "Debbie" Wilkins is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Shirley Cheriton.Debbie was Walford's first upwardly mobile character...
. When Naima was tipped off by an anonymous letter from Dot Cotton
Dot Branning
Dorothy "Dot" Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, EastEnders, played by June Brown since 1985. In a special episode entitled EastEnders: Dot's Story a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in flashbacks. Dot first appeared in EastEnders in July 1985 as the mother of...
, she was disgusted with Saeed and decided to go against her family's wishes and divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
him.
After Saeed left in December 1985, Naima made a determined effort to embrace Western culture and feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
. She stopped wearing sari
Sari
A sari or sareeThe name of the garment in various regional languages include: , , , , , , , , , , , , , is a strip of unstitched cloth, worn by females, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles. It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Nepal,...
s, learned to drive, cut her hair short and moved into a flat with Debbie. With her new look, Naima started attracting a lot of male attention on the Square and even dated Walford lothario
Lothario
Lothario is a male first name which came to connote an unscrupulous seducer of women.In The Impertinent Curiosity, a story-within-the-story in Don Quixote , by Miguel de Cervantes, a man named Anselmo coerces Lothario, his faithful friend, to test the virtue of Anselmo's wife, Camila...
, Simon Wicks
Simon Wicks
Simon "Wicksy" Wicks is a fictional character from the British BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nick Berry between 1985 and 1990. Wicksy was introduced to take on some of the more adult storylines that had been scripted for another character, Mark Fowler; Mark's actor David Scarboro had left...
, and Dr Jaggat Singh, but neither relationship developed into anything serious.
Naima's family persisted in sending her more cousins to marry and in 1986, Rezaul Gabir arrived in England. He lived and worked with Naima, reporting her every move to her parents. Naima protested, but as her parents were funding her business, she had to put up with Rezaul. He was arrogant and pretentious, making him and Naima clash immediately. Naima realised her family were attempting to set Razaul up as her new husband and she refused to oblige (pleasing Razaul as he wasn't interested in Naima). Angered by their daughter's defiance, Naima's parents cut off all funds, leaving Naima struggling to pay her rent and forced her to move into the Fowlers
The Beale/Fowler family
The Beale/Fowler family is a fictional family in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.For many years before the show began, the Beale family consisted of head of the family, Albert, his wife, Lou Beale, and their three children, Kenny and twins Pauline and Pete...
' home for a while.
In 1987, Farrukh, yet another cousin, was sent over to woo Naima. Farrukh was an important politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
and despite Naima's initial protests, she was drawn to him. Farrukh was different to her other suitors, supporting her independence, so she agreed to marry him. They married 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 left Walford for Bangladesh in November 1987.
Character creation and development
Naima Jeffery was one of the original twenty-three characters invented by the creators of EastEnders, Tony HollandTony Holland
Anthony John "Tony" Holland was an English television screenwriter best known as a writer and co-creator of the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early career:...
and Julia Smith
Julia Smith
Julia Smith was an English television director and producer.- Early career :London-born Smith became involved in television production when she directed the series Suspense in 1962...
. Naima and her husband were the first Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
characters to appear in the soap. Black and Asian characters were two ethnic minorities that had previously been under-represented in British soap before EastEnders aired. Holland and Smith knew that for the soap to succeed there needed to be a varied group of characters, so that several different sections of the audience had someone to identify with. Additionally, if the programme was to be realistic, it had to reflect the cross-section of society that actually existed in the real location. For these reasons, different sexes, ages, classes, religions and races were all included in the original character line-up. Both Holland and Smith had been at the forefront of the move towards 'integrated casting' in television and had encountered an array of ethnic diversities in the process. Even though the ethnic minority groups were deemed the hardest to research, Holland and Smith called upon their contacts to relay information about their origins and lifestyles and were then able to portray Walford's most recent immigrants more realistically. Naima was originally intended to be named Najma; named after one of Tony Holland's Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
friends, the wife of Saeed (who was also the character name of Naima's on-screen husband). Holland had attended their arranged marriage, and he thought the notion of an arranged marriage, particularly an unhappy one, would be an interesting and informative topic to tackle in the soap. Because of the similarities with his real life friends, the name Najma was altered to Naima, in order to protect her identity.
Naima's original character outline as written by Smith and Holland appeared in an abridged form in their book, EastEnders: The Inside Story
EastEnders books
This is a list of books about or relating to the British soap opera EastEnders.-Non-fiction books:* EastEnders: The Inside Story* Public Secrets: EastEnders and its Audience* EastEnders Special...
(In this passage, Naima will be referred to as Najma).
- "He is quarter English, three-quarters Bengali and she is wholly Bengali. Their parents were originally from Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, and they are Muslims and cousins...Najma had an easier childhood...She became aware that she couldn't accept the traditional role of an Indian wife, but she wasn't enough of a rebel to leave home and adopt a totally different lifestyle...Saeed's mother's father became seriously ill. It was decided that Saeed's parents should return home to India, and a hasty marriage was arranged between Najma and Saeed so the young couple could then run the food store...They are in a confusing situation, accepting the customs of their parents, yet - because of having been born, brought up and educated in this country - feeling that they're slightly English...Neither of them is particularly docile, having lived through the jungle of the school playground, and the cut and thrust of working-class urban life...Saeed and Najma will make a big effort to mix, and most of the time, fail." (page 58)
Holland and Smith had a lot of trouble casting the role of Naima, as barely any Muslim women responded to their advertisement, and those who did were all unsuitable. Shreela Ghosh
Shreela Ghosh
Shreela Ghosh , a former dancer, actress and reporter, became publicly known in the United Kingdom when she was cast as Naima Jeffery in 1985, one of the original characters in BBC's soap opera, EastEnders. She has since given up performing to work as an arts executive...
, a non-Muslim Indian actress of Bengali ethnicity, was a late arrival. She was a comparatively inexperienced actor, but she was the right age, looked right and she also liked what the programme was trying to do with a young Asian couple. She was subsequently cast in the role.
Naima ran the corner shop, and her early storylines depicted the problems of her arranged marriage and portrayed a character caught between two cultures. Despite being labelled as a stereotypical portrayal of Asian people today, at the time in the 80s such issues had not been widely covered, particularly on mainstream television.
The character lasted in the show for over two years, depicting an independent woman battling against her families wishes and striving to succeed even after her first marriage ended in divorce. The character eventually remarried and returned to her native Bangladesh in November 1987.