FUN FEST: Nina Wadia (right) in a scene from Eastenders; (below) Nitin Ganatra

At this year’s prestigious British Soap Awards the prize for the Best On Screen Partnership was given to Nina Wadia and Nitin Ganatra — a first for Asian actors in the UK. Wadia and Ganatra have managed to break this glass ceiling by superbly playing Zainab and Masood Ahmed, a couple who head the Pakistani-origin Masood family in the UK’s most popular soap, Eastenders.

Wadia and Ganatra have managed to popularise the Masoods with the 12 million-odd viewers of Eastenders by using subtle comedy to show off the couple’s flaws and imperfections, making them fallible and likeable. “I have been stopped in the street by Indian and Pakistani Muslims who say, “‘Thank you so much. In this current climate where we are portrayed only as terrorists you have humanised us.’ This has meant a lot to me,” says Ganatra.

Indeed, since the Masoods have arrived at the fictional Albert Square in Eastenders they have done more for race relations in the UK than the Council for Race Relations has achieved in decades. They have shown that Asian families can adhere to their own culture and at the same time be as British as the Mitchells and the Beales that they have for neighbours.

At the British Soap Awards Wadia pulled off a double when she won the award for the Best Comedy Performance too. “I was so shocked. Everyone told me that Eastenders has never had any luck with the comedy nominations. It’s the first time that they’ve won that award,” says the Mumbai-born Wadia, who made her breakthrough in TV as Meera Syal’s sidekick in Goodness Gracious Me.

Ganatra, whose parents are of Indian origin, came to the UK from Nairobi at the age of four. He has acted in many movies, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Gurinder Chadha’s Bride and Prejudice where he stole the show with his hilarious portrayal of Mr Kohli, the bumptious desi American.

But Ganatra and Wadia are not alone. Once the sole preserve of Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal of Goodness Gracious Me fame, the British Asian comedy scene is suddenly teeming with new life. And they are breaking barriers and pushing the boundaries of comedy.

A couple of months ago Sajeela Kershi, another British Asian comic artist, stunned her predominantly Asian audience at the Brady Centre in London by suggesting that religion had a lot in common with James Bond. “They are both accused of sexism, believe they are God’s gift to mankind and claim they hold a ‘licence to kill,” she said. A moment of silence preceded the roar of laughter. Sajeela pushed the simile a bit more by comparing Islam to Timothy Dalton, the Bond “no one liked.” The audience lapped it up.

“The perception is that women wearing a veil and men with long beards will get offended by comedy but in my experience that argument is redundant,” says Kershi, a bubbly, excitable stand-up comic who has been in the circuit since 2006.

“Comedy is about playing around with ideas. Like I say that the reason why Muslim women walk 10 feet behind their husbands is not because they are oppressed, but because they just have their men on an invisible leash,” jokes Kershi.

The British have always been proud of their dry humour and many of today’s best comedy writers in the country have emerged from the stand-up comedy circuit. Prestigious festivals like the Edinburgh Arts and Fringe both have slots for comedy, as do theatres like the Watermans in Brentford. And young British Asians are finally breaking into these too.

Today, British Asian comics like Inder Manocha, Shazia Mirza, Paul Sinha and Jay Sodagar have created a name for themselves and performed at places like the Comedy Store, Jongleurs Comedy Club and other major comedy clubs. And many of them are experimenting with bold new ideas and narratives.

Take comic artist Shane Solanki, who is currently working on a character called Okra Chopra, a character through which he will look at Asian taboos. The 33-year-old Gujarati is making his character a cross between chat show queen Oprah Winfrey and spiritual guru Deepak Chopra. “I am not comparing my character to Borat (British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s hilarious, and now iconic, creation of a Kazakh journalist who travels through the US). But I plan to use humour beyond words in a similar way. I think Asians are ready to laugh at themselves,” says Solanki.

He also concedes that like Baron Cohen, his brand of comedy may offend some people. “But I am confident that people will realise that my aim is to build bridges and not break them,” says Solanki.

There is indeed a fine line that divides comedy from that which may be deemed offensive. “Maybe some Asians find it a show of weakness if they are laughed at. But if you cannot laugh at yourself, you should not poke fun at others,” says newcomer Hyde Panesar.

However, most British Asian comedians are careful not to offend religious sensitivities. “I will joke about Muslims but I won’t joke about the Prophet Mohammed. As a comedian I have certain boundaries about how far I would go to evoke a response,” says Kershi.

Still, British Asian comics are getting laughs by the bushels. And going by the praise they are being showered with, there will be many more inspired comic acts that push the goal posts of comedy just a bit more.