GUV:Interview recording with Meena Kumar, now 10 years old, lives in Tollington, West Midlands.
MEENA:We’re about to move though.
GUV:Of course. Looking forward to that?
MEENA: Yep.
GUV:Will you miss Tollington?
MEENA: Nope.
PC BENNETT: Interview recording with Anita Rutter, daughter of Deirdre Rut.
ANITA: Don’t mention her, she left.
PC GREEN: Interview recording with Mr and Mrs Kumar, Meena’s Mama and Papa.
Occupation, Infant school teacher.
Occupation… actually, what do you do?
SHANE: Interview with Sam Lowbridge, Tollington resident, boyfriend of Anita Rutter.
SAM: We broke up.
GUV:You won’t miss your friends?
MEENA:Well I never really made any there, not proper ones. Not friends who loved me for me, like Namina and Robert from the hospital.
GUV:Do you consider your cousins, Pinky and Baby friends?
MEENA:(laughs)I wasn’t very nice to them, but in hindsight, they never told on me, so I guess are good friends.
GUV:Yes. We’ve got a record of that stolen charity box.
MEENA:(stops laughing)
Don’t tell Mama and Papa.
PC BENNETT:What was your favourite thing about Meena?
For the sake of the tape, Anita is now shrugging her shoulders and sort of, rolling her eyes rudely.
Now she’s just staring at me now. Quite unnerving if I’m honest.
ANITA:I liked Meena cos’ she always did whatever I told her to do.
PC BENNETT: Anything else?
ANITA:(mumbling)I spose she was nice to me an’all.
PC GREEN:Meena said that you could be a movie star. She’s right, you are fit.
Sorry, is that totes innappropes?
MAMA:Don’t worry, I’m quite used to people admiring my husband. The woman of Tollington were the same.
PAPA:(laughing graciously) Had my father allowed me to, I might well have followed the performance path.
PC GREEN: Aw, do you regret it?
PAPA:No regrets. We’re giving our children a better life. I am a happy man. But I must admit, I love a celebration where I can sing!
MAMA:
He has a wonderful singing voice.
PC GREEN:Oh, you sung at your get-togethers like at Diwali?
PAPA:Exactly! I am not a religious man, I have seen what atrocities people do in the name of religion. But I love my fellow humans and I love to be around them and sing!
SHANE:How do you think it made Meena feel when you started being openly racist?
SAM:I wasn’t ever racist to her! It was the other lot I had a problem with.
SHANE:Who do you mean exactly, by the “other lot”? Sam’s struggling.
SAM:(mumbled)You know, darkies, the other lot.
SHANE:(confident)But as Meena explained, she is the “other lot”, why can’t you see that?
PC GREEN:You know what, Meena said about you two, and I’m quoting her here “I presumed that this is what love meant, both people thinking they were the lucky ones.”
MAMA: Dear girl.
PC GREEN:But do you ever think Meena felt left out, especially when you talked about home, India, and that?
MAMA:That’s quite a difficult thing to hear, but perhaps Meena may have felt that way. We wanted her to care more about her Indian heritage, but I think our memories alienated her rather than drawing her in.
PAPA:It was actually Namina who roused Meena’s interest in India, not us.
PC GREEN:(to Mama) Oh your Mama?
MAMA:(smiling at memory) Yes.
PC GREEN: Do you miss her?
MAMA: Oh bugger yes!
PC BENNETT:Just one last question, why do you think Sam Lowbridge liked Meena so much…?
Because he kissed her, didn’t he. Well, for the sake of the tape, Anita has left the room…
…and I’m not going after her. I’m just sitting here, by myself. That went well.
GUV:You cared deeply for Anita though?
MEENA:Thought she was bosting! So brave and wild and unpredictable. I’d never met anyone like her before.
GUV:But you won’t miss her?
MEENA:I think she’ll make a mess of things and I don’t mind not being around to see that.
GUV:Is th because of what that fortune teller predicted?
MEENA: No. It’s what I think.
Everyone’s getting ready to leave. Shane’s got a black eye.
PC GREEN:Blimey, how did you get that shiner?
SHANE:Anita stormed in and went for Sam because she was told he liked Meena. I got in the way.
GUV:I’m surprised you went in there on your own with that low-life Sam Lowbridge at all.
SHANE:You told me I had to.
GUV:Very true. Well done, no well done, Shane.
PC GREEN: Who’s Shane?
SHANE:I’ve been here for two years! Unbelievable.
Some of the key characters in Anita and Me by Meera Syal are explored through police interview-style dramatisation.
The four characters of Meena, Anita, Mr and Mrs Kumar and Sam are interviewed separately by police officers.
They respond to questions designed to explore their respective motivations for their actions in the novel and gain a deeper understanding of events from a variety of different perspectives.
This is from the series: LIT P.D
Teacher Notes
Could be used as part of an exploration of character and theme, either after an initial reading or as part of a revision activity.
Students could use this clip as the stimulus for their own presentation on a different character from the novel, or as the basis for an essay-style response to one of the characters explored in this clip.
Curriculum Notes
This short film is suitable for teaching English literature at GCSE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and National 5 and Higher in Scotland.
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Anita and Me - Themes. video
An overview of some of the main themes in Anita and Me by Meera Syal.
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Animal Farm - Themes. video
An overview of some of the main themes in Animal Farm by George Orwell.
Anita and Me - Plot. video
An overview of the plot of Anita and Me by Meera Syal.
Never Let Me Go - Themes. video
An overview of some of the main themes in Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Animal Farm - Characters. video
An overview of some of the main characters in Animal Farm by George Orwell.
The Woman in Black - Themes. video
An overview of some of the key themes in The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
The Woman in Black - Characters. video
An overview of some of the main characters in The Woman in Black by Susan Hill.
Never Let Me Go - Plot. video
An overview of the plot of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
