An “Indian auntie” caterer solves crimes

Rippling through “Mrs. Sidhu Investigates” (shown here), the new streaming series, is the notion of “Indian aunties.”
These aren’t the family-tree aunts; you usually only get a few of those. They’re the it-takes-a-village type; Suk Pannu, the “Sidhu” creator, figures he had dozens.
“They gave us lots of love and lots of food,” he said. “They knew what we were up to, before we did.”
And, he figured, they could probably be great crimesolvers. So he created Mrs. Sidhu, a skilled caterer. That brings her in contact with the higher-ups, who seem to be murder-prone
“This is one of those never-give-up stories,” Pannu said. “I’ve been pitching it for 10 or 15 years.”
And then he got the go-ahead. The first three Sidhu movies are already streaming on www.acorn.tv; the fourth one (and the final one, for now) arrives Monday (Oct. 9).
In a way, the birth of those shows goes back to before Pannu was born.
His parents had been living comfortably in India, before emigrating to England. “It was kind of an adventure to them,” he said. “They were moving to what seemed like the center of the universe.”
For a time, they lived with three other familes, in a three-bedroom home, giving him lots of “aunties” nearby. “If one mom had to go to work, there were others to take care of you.”
Pannu’s own career ambitions were vague then (“maybe a spaceman”), but after a boyhood filled with good Indian food, he thought briefly about being a chef. He worked for a caterer (“occasionally, they let me cut some vegetables”), but comedy beckoned.
He wrote sketch material for radio and for a show (“Goodness Gracious Me”) started by some of his college friends. He became a writer for a pioneering TV show, “The Kumars at No. 42.” He talked up the idea of a guru who solves crimes, then switched to a crimesolving caterer.
“I love all the U.S. crime shows,” Pennu said. “’Monk’ was my favorite.”
That show – like “Columbo” or the British “Miss Marple” – had a light tone and a quiet hero who was often underestimated. Pannu molded his idea of a caterer with a disarming, “Indian auntie” persona.
Lots of producers said no – “they were looking for grittier things” – but some were interested. “Mrs. Sidhu” became a radio drama, then moved to TV.
This fictional caterer lives in Slough, where Pannu grew up. It’s a unique place, with a large immigrant population (about 40 percent of the people are Asian), yet with such bedrock British places as Windsor Castle and Eton College.
In the same way, Mrs. Sidhu has her feet in two worlds. A widow with a vocationally-challenged son, she has a middle-income life, but often caters for rich people … who, of course, sometimes kill each other. She also deals with a police inspector (Craig Parkinson) who was reluctant at first – “no cop wants to admit that a civilian can solve a case,” Pannu said – but comes to respect her.
Mrs. Sidhu is played by Meera Syal (ahown here with Parkinson), whom Pannu has marveled at for years. In “The Kunnars,” she played the grandmother of a guy played by Sanjeev Bhaskar – who is only three years younger.
Now Syal and Bhaskar are married. (Yes, he sort of married his grandma.) He stars in “Unforgotten,” a grittier show that airs on PBS; she’s Mrs. Sidhu, a lighter tale. They’re sort of a power couple, occupying opposite ends of TV’s crime universe.