syal wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film "bhaji on the beach", directed by gurinder chadha, of "bend it like beckham" fame. she was on the team that wrote and performed in the bbc comedy sketch show "goodness gracious me" (1996–2001), originally on radio and then on television. she was a scriptwriter on a.r. rahman and andrew lloyd webber's "bombay dreams" and she played the grandmother sushila in the international emmy-award-winning series "the kumars at no. 42", which ran for seven series.