Tanika Gupta

Tanika Gupta MBE
Born	(1963-12-01) 1 December 1963 Chiswick, London, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Education	Modern History
Alma mater	Oxford University
Occupation	Playwright
Years active	1998–present
Known for	Theatre, Television
Style	Drama, Radio drama, Screenplay
Spouse	David Archer (1988–present)
Children	Nandini (daughter) Niharika (daughter) Malini (daughter)
Parent(s)	Tapan Gupta (father) Gairika Gupta (mother)
Relatives	Dr Pritish Gupta (paternal grandfather) Dinesh Chandra Gupta (maternal great uncle)

Tanika Gupta, MBE (born 1 December 1963) is a British playwright of Bengali origin. Apart from her work for the theatre, she has also written scripts for television.

Background and education

As a child, Gupta performed Tagore dance dramas with her parents’. Her mother was an Indian classically trained dancer and her father a singer. She is also related to the Indian revolutionary Dinesh Gupta, whose brother was Tanika's grandfather.

She went to Oxford University and read modern history. After Oxford, her political commitment found expression in her work for an Asian women's refuge in Manchester. After marriage in 1988, the couple moved to London and Gupta was a community worker in Islington, writing in her spare time.

Writing career

The BBC asked her to write for Grange Hill. In 2000 The Waiting Room was a career highpoint, enjoyed by blue-rinses as well as by Asian audiences. Gupta is rumoured to be writing a new play for Birmingham Repertory Theatre's Youth Theatre, The Young REP, to be performed in June 2009. She is definitely writing a play for the Young Rep, for a group called 'Plays and New Writing' (which is one of the groups at the young REP).

Honours

Gupta was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.

Filmography

Year	Title
1995	Flight (TV movie)
1995	Bideshi (short)
1995	Siren Spirits (TV mini-series)
1995	The Fiancée (short)
1997-2000	Grange Hill (TV series) [7 episodes]
2001	Crossroads (TV series)
2001	The Bill (TV series) [Complicity: Part 2]
2002	The Lives of Animals (TV movie) (screenplay)
2006	Banglatown Banquet (TV movie) (screenplay)

Plays

Year	Title
1995	Voices on the Wind
1997	Skeleton
2000	The Waiting Room
2002	Sanctuary
2002	Inside Out
2003	Hobson's Choice
2003	Fragile Land
2004	The Country Wife
2006	Gladiator Games
2006	Catch
2006	Sugar Mummies
2008	Meet The Mukherjees
2008	White Boy

Awards

• EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Award for Best Television Production) (screenplay) "Flight" (1998)
• John Whiting Award "The Waiting Room" (2000)
• Asian Women of Achievement Award (Arts and Culture category) (2003)
• EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Award for Best Play) (adaptation) "Hobson's Choice" (2004)
• Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre "Fragile Land"/"Hobson's Choice" (2004)
• Amnesty International UK Media Awards (radio play) "Chitra" (2005)
• Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Birthday Honours (2008)

See also

• British Bangladeshis
• List of British Bangladeshis

External links

• DESIblitz Interview DESIblitz article on Popular British Asian Writers including Tanika Gupta.
• Online profile
• 2 Young 2 Luv
• Great Expectations adapted by Tanika Gupta, premieres at Watford Palace Theatre
• Tanika Gupta