10 Facts About… Walford’s Nitin Ganatra (Masood)
lnside soap YOUR BRIEFING ON THE MAN BEHIND EASTENDERS’ MASOOD…
1 Nitin was born in Kenya in 1967, and moved to Coventry with his family when he was just three years old.
His family set up a newsagent business in Coventry, which is still going today – so they’ve done rather better than Masood has ever managed in his business ventures!
Nitin married his wife Meera in 2004, and they have two children together.
2 Nitin joined Eastenders in 2007 as loveable but luckless Masood Ahmed. The family has comprised wife Zainab, sons Syed, Tamwar and Kamil, and daughter Shabnam – all have since moved on, with Masood now living with his Aunt Mariam and Uncle Arshad. Currently single, Masood has romanced a host of Walford icons over the years, including Jane Beale and Carol Jackson.
3 Zainab and Masood won the 2009 British Soap Award for Best Screen Partnership – a testament to Nitin’s wellestablished rapport with his co-star Nina Wadia. The pair first worked together way back in the 1990s on a stage show called D’yer Eat With Your Fingers?. The production also starred Sanjeev Bhaskar, and was something of a precursor to the BBC1 hit comedy Goodness Gracious Me.
4 Nitin holds the distinction of appearing in the first ever ipod commercial (check it out online at goo.gl/y1ffpi). In the ad, Nitin struts his funky stuff to the Propellerheads track Take California. He moves, he grooves, he even attempts a sort-of moonwalk. It has to be seen to be believed!
5 Nitin isn’t just a star of the small screen. He played the minor role of Prince Pondicherry in the 2005 blockbuster film Charlie And The Chocolate Factory – wherein his huge chocolate palace comes to a sticky end. “I was on screen for 30 seconds,” he told Loose Women in 2009, “but we spent 10 days filming it!”
6 Light-hearted Nitin claims that he doesn’t mind getting naked for the cameras. “My brown buttocks have got their own show, really,” he once joked. “I think I’ve got my arse out on nearly every job I’ve done!” What would Zainab have thought of that?
7 One of Nitin’s hidden talents is that he’s a martial arts expert! In his youth, he studied the Afro-brazilian martial art of Capoeira. “I was bouncing around the place,” Nitin told Jonathan Ross in 2010. “I could hold my own. Then I developed my love handles!” We’d love to see Masood fling smug Ian Beale over one shoulder.
8 Nitin took part in the 2013 series of Who Do You Think You Are?, and made some emotional discoveries about his family. Among the more heart-rending moments was the revelation that his maternal grandmother was married at six years old to his grandfather who was aged just 10. His grandmother bore 10 children, but sadly only two of them survived beyond childhood. “That’s a real shock,” Nitin admitted on the programme. He also found out about his mother’s upbringing: “I’m trying to imagine my mum having to work at the age of eight, with eight siblings who have died. She’s never talked about that.”
9 Masood fans were disappointed when Nitin opted to leave Eastenders in 2016, but none more so than his mum – who was furious! The star revealed: “She said, ‘Why are you doing that, you stupid boy? It’s a good job!’” Hopefully Nitin’s mum has calmed down a bit now her boy has returned!
10 There have been rumours lately of a romance brewing between Masood and Kathy Beale, but Nitin and Gillian Taylforth have already played some steamy scenes together, in the comedy-drama Jane Hall. “We played bus drivers getting it on in the bus depot!” recalls Nitin. So it’s no wonder they have such great on-screen chemistry!