Naima Jeffery

Naima Jeffery is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Shreela Ghosh from 19 February 1985 to 19 November 1987.

Asian Naima tries to embrace Western culture, but this is not easy since her family constantly try to force her to adhere to their ancient customs. Sick of being forced to live in an arranged marriage with a husband she loathes, Naima makes a stand and shames her family by filing for a divorce.

Storylines

Original EastEnder Naima runs a corner shop on Bridge Street with her husband Saeed Jeffery (Andrew Johnson). Her parents were originally from Bangladesh, but she was born in England. Naima and her husband are on the receiving end of racial abuse and vandalism from the neo-nazi group that includes Nick Cotton (John Altman), which make life in Walford particularly unpleasant for them both.

Naima was sent to Walford for an

In 1987, Farrukh (Sumar Khan), yet another cousin, is sent over to woo Naima. Farrukh is an important politician in Bangladesh and despite Naima's initial protests, she is drawn to him. Farrukh is different from her other suitors, supporting her independence, so she agrees to marry him. They marry in Birmingham and leave 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,

"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)[1]

Holland and Smith had much 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.^[1]

Naima runs the corner shop, and her early storylines depict the problems of her arranged marriage and portray 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.^[2]

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 remarries and returns to her native Bangladesh in November 1987.^[3]

References