Emmerdale brings in former EastEnders star Anil Goutam as Jai and Suni's father

Daniel Kilkelly

6 October 2023 at 7:02 pm·2-min read

Emmerdale brings in former EastEnders star Anil Goutam as Jai and Suni's father

Emmerdale has announced plans for Jai and Suni Sharma's father Amit to join the village.

Former EastEnders actor Anil Goutam has been cast in the role of Amit, who makes his first appearance on the ITV soap next week.

Amit was first mentioned on screen back in the summer, when newcomer Suni spoke about his family life.

The character is Rishi's younger brother and Suni's dad. In Rishi's tragic final episode in July, it was confirmed that Amit is also Jai Sharma's biological father as Georgia had an affair with him when she was working as his secretary.

Speaking to Digital Spy and other media at an Emmerdale press event, show producer Laura Shaw commented: "Anil Goutam plays Amit, a new character joining us as part of the Sharma family.

"Obviously, we found out not so long ago that Rishi was not Jai's biological father, and actually Jai's father is Amit, who is Rishi's brother and Suni's father.

"So, clearly, we weren't going to leave that one hanging for too long before we brought Amit in!"

Shaw continued: "What you'll see with Amit is quite a dark and complex character, and although we see Suni wanting him to stick around, could Suni end up regretting that? Is Amit hiding another secret that threatens to blow the whole family apart?"

Anil previously played the guest role of Ranveer Gulati in EastEnders last year.

vinny panesar, uncle ranveer, kheerat panesar, eastenders — BBC

The character of Ranveer was memorably killed by Ravi Gulati – a storyline that was revisited in recent episodes.

The actor's other screen credits include roles in Silent Witness, Andor, Citizen Khan, This Is Going to Hurt and Casualty.

Check out more of our Emmerdale coverage:

Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.

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Emmerdale brings in former EastEnders star Anil Goutam as Jai and Suni's father

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